n 6 



■ 

/ 



CHARLEMONT AS A PLANTATION 



AN 



HISTORICAL D1SC0UKSI-; 



CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH 



MOSES RICE, 



THE FIRST SETTLE It OF THE TOWN. 



DELIVERED M 



(HAUL E M U NT, M A SS. 



JUNE 11, 185 5 



B Y .1 os i; mi w ii LTE 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF T. It. MARTIN & SON, 42 CONGRESS STREET. 

18.".- 



~ 



In Town Meeting, Charlemont, April 7, 1856, 

On motion, " Voted, To take measures to publish the Address delivered in 
Charlemont, June 11, 1855, by Joseph White, Esq., and place a copy of Vlie same 
in every family in town." 

" Voted, To choose a Committee of three, to secure the publication of tic Ad- 
dress, and to secure and protect as a Burial-ground, the spot where Captain Rice 
and Mr. Arms were buried." 

On motion, the following named persons were then appointed by the Moderator, 
said Committee: — Alexander P. Maxwell, Samuel Potter, and Dr. AjH. 
Taylor. I 

Attest, F. W. WHITE, Town Clerk. \ 






DISCOURSE. 



I i i i.nw < !] nZENS : 

In obedience to the call of your Committee, I stand before 
you to-day. 1 come from the cares and anxieties of active busi- 
ness, to call your thoughts, for a brief space, away from the busy 
present to the solemn past Without further preface or apology, 

T invite your attention to a simple, and, so far as my time and 
Materials would allow, a connected statement of the origin of this 
town, and its history during its existence as a plantation; together 
with some brief notices of the families of the first settlers. 

On the 27th day of June, A. D. 1735, the House of Repre- 
sentatives took the following action on a petition of the town oi 
Boston, to wit : 

" Voted, That there be, and hereby is granted to the town of Boston, 
three tracts of land, each of the contents of bus miles square ; and to be 
laid out in seme suitable place or places in the unappropriated lands <>f 
the Province for Townships, by a surveyor and chainman on oath, and to 
r.-i urn plans whereof to this Court for confirmation, within twelve months; 
provided, the town of Boston do, within five years from the confirmation 
of the Baid plans, settle on each of the said towns, sixty families of his 
Majesty's good subjects, inhabitants of this Province, in as regular and 
defensible a manner as the lands will admit of; each of Baid sixty fam- 
ilies to build ami finish a dwelling-house on his heme lot, of the following 
dimensions, via : Eighteen feet square and seven feet stud at the 1 
that each of the said settlers within said town bring to, and lit for improve- 
ment, five acres <>f Baid heme let, either by plowing or for mowing, by 
stocking the same with English grass, aid fence th< ill in, and 

illy live en the spot : — and, also, that they build and finish a Buitable 

and convenient House fur the public worship of God, and settle a learned, 
orthodox minister, in each of the said town-, and provide for their honor- 
able anil comfortable support : — and, al-o. lay out three house-lots in 



each of said towns, each of -which to draw a sixty-third part of said town, 
in all future divisions ; one to be for the first settled minister, one for the 
ministry, and one for the school." 

On the 15th of June, 1736, agreeably to one of the provisions 
of the grant, a plat of ground was presented to the General Court, 
containing twenty-three thousand and forty acres of land, laid out 
by Nathaniel Kellogg, surveyor, and two chainmen under oath, 
and called " Number One," bounded as follows, viz : " Beginning 
at a hemlock tree on the southerly side of Deerfield river, about 
forty rods from said river, at the north end of a mountain, near 
the crotch of said river, thence running east nineteen degrees 
south, two thousand eight hundred and sixty perch ; from thence 
north seventeen hundred and five perch, to a stake and stones ; 
then west six degrees north, tw T o thousand four hundred and fifteen 
perch ; then south nineteen degrees west to the aforementioned 
tree ; bounded on unappropriated lands of the Province on every 
side, except the east, which is bounded partly on the Township 
Number Two " ; — the survey of which was also presented to the 
House, at the same time, by Mr. Kellogg. 

This irregular plat of ground, with a southern border of about 
9.93 miles, an eastern of 5.32 miles, and a northern of 7.54 miles, 
called Boston Township Number One, constituted the original 
plantation, and, afterwards, town of Charlemont. 

It is much to be regretted that we have no means of ascertaining 
from what source our goodly town received its name, or at what 
date the name was given. The earliest mention of it which I have 
been able to discover, is in the deed, hereafter mentioned, from 
Phineas Stevens to Othniel Taylor, dated Nov. 3, 1742, wherein 
it is styled, " Checkley's Town, otherwise called Charlemont." 

In pursuance of a vote of the freeholders and other inhabitants 
of Boston, at a legal meeting held on the third clay of May, A. D. 
1737, the Selectmen sold the Township Number One, to John 
Read, Esq., for One Thousand and Twenty Pounds. The convey- 
ance was made to him on the 14th day of July following, and bound 
him to comply with the conditions of the original grant to Boston. 

On the 14th day of December, in the same year, Read conveyed 
the Township to John Checkley and Gershom Keyes, with a 
reservation to himself of one thousand seven hundred and sixty 
acres in the north-west part of the tract, binding them, also, to a 
compliance with the terms of the original grant. 



Keyes and Checkley conveyed, December IT, 1 7- J7. to Thomas 
Hancock, " five hundred acres at least," on the east Line of the tract 

November L6, L738, Keyes conveyed one quarter part of the 
whole township to Benjamin \\ oods, after reserving sand 

acres for actual settlers, and the one thousand seven hundred and 
sixty acres already reserved by John Read. And in December 
following, Keyes received from Checkley a power of attorney to 

deed the si\ thousand acres to settlers. 

As BUch attorney, on the 23d of April, A. D. 17 11. Key* 8 sold 
to Moses Race, of Rutland, in the County of Worcester, two 
thousand two hundred acres of land, the west line beginning on 
the north bank of the Deerlield river, nearly opposite the mouth 
of Checkley'a river — more correctly, forty-tour rods below the 
mouth — and the east line being at a pine tree, standing in, or near, 
the small rivulet which crosses the road, in the farm of Rev. 
Joseph Field, and running north four hundred and twenty rods : 
also a till}- acre lot, « lying east of the common lands left by the 
meeting-house place, bounded south on the river, and west by 
lands left for commonage and meeting-house." 

During the same year, Keyes sold other portions of the town- 
ship as follows: — To Nathaniel Cummgham, Benjamin Clark, and 
Ebenezer Storer, fifteen hundred and eighty-four acres, lying in 
the north-east corner of the town. November 18, to 1'hineas 
Stevens, of Deerfield, five hundred acres, lying south of Deerfield 
river, in the south-east corner of the town ; and also, as the attor- 
ney for Checkley, five hundred acres on the north side of the river 
and on the east line of the town, and running thence west two 
hundred rods, and north far enough to include the five hundred 
acres. December 1<), to William Ward, one thousand acres, join- 
ing John Reed's land. December 29, to David Baldwin, one 
thousand acres, between Hancock's and Ward's. 

On the 3d of November, 17 1:., 1'hineas Stevens sold the two 
lots which he had purchased of Keye8, as before mentioned, to 
Othniel Taylor of Deerlield, for the sum of one thousand pound-, 
old tenor. 

During the Bame year Keyes made other Bales as follows, viz : 
Janu iry s . to William Ward, nine hundred and fifty acr< 
October 19, I i Nathaniel Martin, five hundred and sis 
"bounded west on Moses Rice, north on common bind, south on 
1 1 Held river.*' 



In November, as attorney to Checkley, rive hundred acres to 
John Stearns, on the south side of the river, and five hundred on 
the north side, " bounded northerly and westerly partly on com- 
mon lands." 

On the 20th of the same month he also sold to Stearns one thou- 
sand one hundred and sixty-one acres, bounded south on the river, 
and north on Hancock's farm ; and one hundred acres to Benjamin 
Hayward, " bounded south on the river and north by common 
lands ; " and December 27, to Elisha Dyer, four hundred acres, 
" lying west of Othniel Taylor's farm." 

On the 27th of January, 1743, (N. S.) Keyes sold to William 
Ward all his remaining right and interest in the township, which 
he thus describes : " The one moiety or half part of a certain 
township, called Charlemont, lying on Deerfield river, in the 
County of Hampshire. It being the whole I purchased of John 
Read, as may appear by a deed of sale, bearing date the 14th day 
of December, 1737, and recorded at Springfield, the 30th day of 
the aboves d December, as will appear by the said deed, except- 
ing my part of all that is sold to Mr. Thomas Hancock, Captain 
E,ice, John Stearns, and to a number of other persons, as may 
appear by their Deeds, Recorded at Springfield, Bounded as may 
appear by the aboves d Deed." 

Nearly eight years had now elapsed since the original grant to 
Boston ; and, although large portions of the territory had, as we 
have seen, been disposed of to numerous purchasers, yet Boston 
had satisfied herself with pocketing the money, and handing over 
her obligations " to bring on the settlements " to John Read, her 
grantee. Read, following the example of Boston, had taken no 
other steps to further the settlement of the town than to transfer 
the obligations which he had assumed to Checkley and Keyes. 
And it appears that most of the grantees of Checkley and Keyes, 
had, like them, purchased for purposes of speculation, and not of 
settlement. 

This quiet valley, now so beautiful with its garniture of green, 
and these guardian hills, still bore up the ancient forest. But the 
time appointed for a wonderful change was at hand. The axe was 
now to be laid at the root of the giant trees ; the blue smoke was 
now to curl from the low cabin of the pioneer ; and the voice of 
industry, and the notes of prayer and praise, were now to arise ; 
and the long, dark reign of wild beast, and wilder man, not with- 



out ;i hitter struggle, was soon to cease forever. The first settler — 
the patriarch of the valley — was on his way. In the spring of 
171-5, if not, indeed, in the pluvious autumn, Moses Rice, of Rut- 
land, in the County of Worcester, removed with his family to the 

town, and settled upon the tract which he had previously pur- 
chased. 

It is impossible, at this late period, to determine precisely the 

day, or month even, of the first settlement, (.'apt. Rice, as we have 
seen, had made his purchase in April, 17 Jt 1 ; hut that he did not. 

remove from Rutland previous to the autumn of 171:2, is evident 
from the following record of a town meeting held in Rutland, 
A rust 9th, of that year. 

" Voted, That the town accept of Mr. Buckminster'a contract, 
and join in his ordination ; and chose Eleazer Ball, Capt M 
Rice, and Daniel Estabrook, a committee to provide for the same." 

That he did not remove later than the spring of 1743, is evi- 
dent from the following statement, which I find in a petition pre- 
sented by him to the General Court, on the 4th day of Deecmher, 
1752, viz : "The Petition of Moses Rice, of a place called Charle- 
mont, in the County of Hampshire, Humbly Shews, 

" That it is about ten years since your petitioner went to live in 
said Place, and was the first family that moved there." 

In view of these tacts, especially when we consider the severe 
privations and hardships to which his family must have been 
exposed during the first winter's residence, with no other pre- 
paration to meet them, than a settlement late in the season would 
allow, I think we may safely conclude that Capt. Rice removed his 
family to this place early in the spring of 174o. 

Whether the entire family removed at this time, cannot now be 
determined. Of his seven children, his eldest son Samuel was 
twenty-three years of age, had been married nearly two years, and 
was the father of one son, born April 5, 17 1:.'; and his eldest 
daughter, Abigail, was married to James lleaton, of Rutland, April 
11, 1713. The remaining children were minors, the youngest son, 
Artemas, being but nine years of age. 

It is quite probable that Capt. Rice and his sons hid visited the 
place during the previous summer, ami begun the work of prepa- 
ration ; had cleared portions of the meadow ami prepared them for 
cultivation ; had hewn the timber, and, perhaps, erected the 
house which was to bo his future home. This supposition recei\> 



some support from the statement of his son, Sylvanus Rice, 
handed down to us by his daughter, the late Mrs. Fuller, that 
" he had slept under the buttonwood tree," still standing by the 
roadside, near the dwelling of Mr. William Patch, " when there 
was no other white person in town." 

Tradition informs us that the first house was erected on, or near, 
the spot where the house of Mr. Patch now stands, upon the high 
grounds overlooking the beautiful fields at the west, which, from 
their being first cultivated, have, from time immemorial, been 
called the « Old Fields." 

Capt. Rice's dwelling was the outpost of civilization in north- 
western Massachusetts, there being none other, west of the valley 
of the Connecticut, excepting in Coleraine. His supplies were to 
be procured at Deerfield, and his corn carried thither to mill, a 
distance of twenty-two miles, and over a road which was little else 
than a bridle path. 

Feebly, indeed, can we of the present generation conceive of, 
and, much less, adequately appreciate the difficult and exhausting 
labors, the privations and hardships experienced by the little band 
of hardy adventurers who leveled the primeval forests and turned 
the first furrow in these peaceful fields, which now smile, in quiet 
beauty, beneath our eyes. Yet, with strong hands and resolute 
hearts, the father and his youthful sons went to their work. The 
forests retreated before them ; the harvest was gathered ; comforts 
were multiplied ; the signs of plenty increased ; and a prosperous 
and smiling future seemed before them. 

But other scenes than these, were soon to open upon them ; 
another and more terrible element was to be added to the hard- 
ships of frontier life, — the fear of the tomahawk and scalping- 
knife. 

From the close of Sebastian Rolle's or the Jesuits' war, in 
1725, the colonists had enjoyed a period, unusully protracted, of 
exemption from the depredations of the Indian foe. At the close 
of that war, great efforts had been made to cultivate relations of 
good-will with the Indians who yet remained in New England, or 
who visited the borders from the neighboring provinces and from 
Canada. Trading-houses had been erected at Fort Dummer, and 
at other points in the wilderness, on the eastern and northern fron- 
tiers, and well stocked with such goods as the Indians were 
accustomed to procure, and furnished to them in exchange for furs 



9 

and other products of the chase. Conferences were 1 1< 1« I with 
the sachems of the Leading tribes, and mutual assurances given that 
the "covenant of peace should remain unshaken." 

"Nevertheless," says Gen. Hoyt, 1 "it was evident that the 
Indians still harbored dispositions not very friendly to the English, 

and that a war between France and England was alone wanting to 
turn them once more upon the frontiers of the Colonies. As they 
often resorted to the exterior settlements and trading-posts for 
traffic, it was common for them to visit the families whom they 
had cruelly injured in the preceding wars, and to recount their 
exploits ; the cruel murders and tortures practiced upon their 
friends ; and, when provoked or intoxicated, to threaten a 
reiteration of their former cruelties, should war afford them 
opportunities." 

These opportunities were not long delayed. On the 29th of 
March, IT I I. Great Britain declared war against France and Spain. 
It was proclaimed in Boston in June. 

" At the declaration of war," — and I again quote Gen. Hoyt, — 
M many Indians who had been active in the former war, resided 
about the frontiers on the Connecticut, as well as at the fishing 
stations on that river. By a friendly intercourse, many had become 
known to the English settlers, and a kind of attachment had been 
created, which it was hoped would operate as a check to their 
ferocity. Hut their ardor for plunder and carnage overcame their 
apparent feelings of amity ; and finding an opportunity lor gratify- 
ing their inclinations, they suddenly left their stations and repaired 
to Canada, to join the hostile tribes in that quarter. Perfectly 
acquainted with the topography of the country on the frontiers of 
the Colonies, thev were employed during the war, not only in 
predatory incursions of their own, but as guides to other and more 
distant Indian-." 

Such was the character of the foe with whom our fathers were 
called to contend, and whose predatory forays spread devastation 
and death throughout the feeble settlements upon our northern 
borders. Planning their expeditions in Canada, they passed clown 
lake- Ohaniplain to Crown l'oint, or to the head of the lake, and 
thence up Otter Creek (o the highlands in Vermont, Called the 
half-way mountain. Here they separated into smaller parties, 
some of which followed down Wells or Black rivers, to attack 

1 Anti^unrian Researches, p, 22 



10 

the settlements on the Connecticut ; while others passed southerly 
to the head -waters of the Deerfield and its tributaries, to fall upon 
the feeble settlements in this quarter ; and others still followed 
Wood Creek from Whitehall to the Hudson and Hoosic, and up 
the latter stream to the mountain, and following the " old Indian 
road " across the summit, fell upon settlements in the valleys of 
the Deerfield and Connecticut. 

To arrest the progress of these parties, and guard the exposed 
frontiers, the following scheme of defence was adopted. Fort 
Dummer, on the right bank of the Connecticut, in the present 
town of Vernon, Vermont, was repaired and suitably garrisoned, 
and a line of small forts was projected, to extend from Fort 
Dummer, westward on the highlands above the settlements, to 
the upper valley of the Hoosic river, in the present town of 
Adams. In pursuance of this plan, during the summer of 1744, 
Fort Shirley was erected, in the north-eastern part of Heath ; Fort 
Pelham, on Pelham brook, in Rowe ; and Fort Massachusetts, 
nearly at the northern base of Saddle mountain, in the beautiful 
meadow on the banks of the Hoosic river, and now owned by 
Clement Harrison, Esq. Fort Morrison, and two other small forts, 
or mounts, were also erected in Coleraine, in the following year. 
These were all built under the supervision of Ephraim Williams, 
Jr., then a young and active officer, with the commission of Cap- 
tain in the Hampshire regiment, under the command of Col. John 
Stoddard, of Northampton ; and afterwards the gallant and be- 
loved commander of the third Massachusetts regiment of ''new 
levies," in the expedition of Sir William Johnson against Crown 
Point. His early and lamented fall in the " bloody morning 
scout " at Lake George, September 8, 1755, and his dying legacy, 
afterwards the foundation of the College which bears his name, 
have embalmed his memory in the hearts of the people of Western 
Massachusetts. 

These forts were built of logs, squared and matched, or of 
hewn plank, and surrounded with pickets — squared timber, sharp- 
ened and driven into the ground, so as to form a continuous fence, 
and tolerably secure against musketry. They were supplied with 
small iron guns or swivels, and garrisoned by small parties of sol- 
diers. Besides guarding the settlements in their vicinity, they also 
furnished protection and points of rendezvous to the scouting 
parties which were ranging from fort to fort, and often far into the 



11 

wilderness to discover the trail and break op the war-parties of the 
Indian enemy. W it li his head-quartera at Fort Massachui 
which was the moat important post, Capt. Williriui^ wis intrusted 
with the command of the other forts, and with the defence of the 
entire frontier west of the Connecticut 

Relying upon the defence thus afforded, Capt. Bice, remained 
in his exposed position, with no extra guard, except for a few 
months, and continued his labors in Cultivating his lands. His 
house was situated on the direct Line of travel between Deerfield 
and Fort Massachusetts, and was the welcome home of the colonial 
troops, passing to and from these points, and a grateful sin Iter to 
the small parties of scouts in their dangerous marches. His own 
language, taken from the petition already quoted, will best describe 
his position at that period. It is as follows : "That his living was 
of great service, as he humbly apprehends, to the public, as being 
the only house where people could he supplied ; and, as soldiers 
were often traveling that way, as well as small parties of scouts, it 
was very expensive to your petitioner, who often supplied them at 
his own costs." 

Thus, while the war was raging, and dangers threatened on 
every side, he remained unmolested till August, 17 46. On the 
20th day of that month, Fort Massachusetts was invested by a 
force of eight hundred French and Indians, under the command 
of M. Rigaud de VaudreuiL After a gallant defence of twenty- 
eight hours, by the little garrison of twenty-two men commanded 
by Sergeant John Hawks, of Deerfield, they were compelled, from 
want of ammunition, to capitulate. 

During the same week, Capt. Rice removed his family to Deer- 
field. This timely flight proved their salvation from the horrors 
of an Indian massacre. For, on his return to Charlemont, a short 
time afterwards, to look after his property, he found that the Sav- 
age had been there, and that the fire had done its work. His 
losses are hot related in his own plain and simple words. He 
says: " That as he was not defended, he at the time drew off with 
his wife and family to Deerfield ; and returning in order to take 
care n{' his things, found his house was burnt, with a good stock 
of provisions therein, i\,v carried away,J by the enemy, as was all 
his household goods, with a considerable parcel of clothing ; his 

stock of cattle, being seven oxen and i :ier with sj\ ■ 

good fat hogB, were all killed by the enemy ; his crop of grain, at 



12 

least three hundred bushels, with all his hay, husbandry, tools, 
and many other things, all destroyed ; his loss being at least fifteen 
hundred pounds, Old Tenor." ] This destruction was doubtless the 
work of the fifty Indians who left VaudreuiPs camp, immediately 
after Fort Massachusetts had capitulated, in order to surprise Deer- 
field, and were engaged in the " Bars fight " in that town, on 
Monday, the 25th of August. 

Finding his home desolated, and his property destroyed, Capt. 
Rice returned, with his family, to Rutland, where he remained 
about three years, till the close of the war. 

In the month of December following, Aaron Rice, his second 
son, volunteered to serve in the garrison at Fort Pelham, where he 
was stationed more than a year. 2 

While residing at Rutland, his second daughter, Dinah Rice, was 
married to Joseph Stevens, January 20, 1747. 

Upon the return of peace, Capt. Rice, with his family of four 
sons and two daughters, returned to his desolated homestead. A 
new dwelling was erected upon the site of the former one ; and 
another house was built near the river, upon the meadow now 
owned by Mr. Roswell Rice, for the accommodation of his son, 
Samuel Rice, who had now become the father of three sons — 
Moses, Asa and Martin. 

But he was no longer to carry on the work single-handed. 
Others began to arrive. First, probably, were Othniel Taylor and 
Jonathan his brother, who settled, in the year 1749 or 1750, 
upon the purchase already mentioned, in the eastern boundary of 
the township, and erected houses near to each other upon the 
site now occupied by the dwelling of Elias Taylor, Esq. 

Othniel Taylor was the grandson of John Taylor, who was one 
of the early settlers in Northampton, was captain of a troop of 
cavalry in that town, and was slain by the Indians at Easthampton, 
May 13, 1704, at the age of sixty-three years. He was the father 
of thirteen children. Two of his sons, Samuel and Thomas, 
removed to Deerfield, where Samuel married, as a second wife, in 
1718, Mary Hitchcock, of Springfield. Othniel, their eldest son, 
was born April 16, 1719, and was not far from thirty years of age 
at the time of his removal to Charlemont. His wife's name was 
Martha Arms, of Deerfield. They were married June 16, 1743, 
and had three children before their removal. From a petition, 

1 Appendix A. 2 Appendix B. 



18 

dated at Deerfield, and presented to the General Court, April 6, 
17 !!».' Mr. Taylor appears to bare been a resident of Deerfield, al 
that time. Hi> fourth child, Enos Taylor, was born at Charlemont, 
Februan •). L751, and was the first child of English parents, 

born in the town. Mr. Taylor's removal here WBS, doubtless, 

between these dotes, and probably in the sununei of 1 7 1 '. » . - 

About the same period, there came from Deerfield, Gershom, 
Joshua, and Seth Hawks j and, probably, Eleazer Hawks, their 

lather.' 1 They purchased and settled upon the fine tract of land in 
the BOUth-wett angle of the township, lying on both sides of the 
Deerfield, and bounded on the east by the purchase of ('apt. Bice. 
They also erected two dwellings — one, and perhaps both, near the 
present house of .Mr. Silas Hawks. 1 am not aware of any cir- 
cumstance which will aid in fixing the date of the settlement of 
the Hawks family, other than the birth of the late Lieut. Joshua 
Hawks, son of Joshua Hawks above named, who was said to be 
born in Deerfield six months before his parents removed here. 
Jle was baptized at Deerfield, July 1, 1750. 

These three families then, and in the order mentioned, were the 
first settlers of this town ; and, as we have seen, each settlement 
was made previous to the year 1751. 

Notwithstanding the township had passed into the hands of 
numerous proprietors, no other attempts were made at settlement 
for several years later, and little or none to fulfill the other condi- 
tions of the original grant. These families were left to strU£ 
alone with the difficulties and hardships of their new position ; 
without roads or mills ; without the means of educating their 
children, or the privileges of public worship. 

Matters remained thus till the summer of 17;~, when ("apt. 
luce was sent to Boston to petition the General Court for relief. 
On the 5th of June, he presented a petition to the House of Rep- 
resentatives, in behalf of himself and his neighbors. This peti- 
tion, as the first step towards the legal existence of the place as a 
plantation, and also the action of the Government upon it, deserve 
a full recital. After the usual address, it proceeds as follows : 
" The memorial of Moses Bice, of a place called Charlemont, in 
the County of Hampshire, being Boston Township Number I 
for himself and ten others inhabiting said Township: 

" Humbly showvth that the Township was granted to the town 

1 Appendix C. * Appendix I >. ;*ndix B. 



14 

of Boston, upon conditions of settlement as other towns were 
granted about that time ; and the town of Boston, by their com- 
mittee, made sale of the same to the highest bidder, by which 
means one man became the sole owner thereof ; since which it has 
been sold and conveyed, chiefly in large parcels, to persons who 
have not made any settlements or improvements on the same. 
And your petitioner and several others, knowing the conditions of 
the grant, and expecting it would be complied with, purchased a 
part of said township and became obliged to settle the same 
agreeable to the conditions of the grant, and have made consider- 
able improvements ; but, by reason of the negligence of the other 
proprietors, are brought under great and insupportable difficulties 
and hardships, not being able to support the ministry, build mills, 
or even mend the roads and make suitable bridges, (the nearest 
mill being twenty miles distant.) Your petitioner, therefore, in 
behalf of the inhabitants of said township, Humbly prays that 
your Honor and Honors would take their case into your wise and 
compassionate consideration, and grant a tax on the lands of the 
non-resident proprietors, in order to carry on the settlement ; or 
relieve the said Inhabitants in such way as your Honor and Honors 
shall think reasonable. And as in duty bound will ever pray." 

On the same day the petition was read, and an order passed 
that notice issue to the non-resident proprietors, to be published in 
some public print and posted in some public place in Springfield, 
and made returnable the second Friday of the next session. 

On the 4th of December, the petition was read the second 
time ; whereupon it was, " Voted, That a tax of one penny per 
acre, lawful money, be laid upon all the lands in the within named 
township, (the public lands only excepted,) for the space of three 
years next to come, and that the moneys so raised shall be 
improved for the following purposes, viz : For finishing the meet- 
ing-house already agreed and engaged to be set up in said Town- 
ship : For support of preaching, encouraging the building of 
mills, and for laying out and clearing highways there, and in such 
manner and proportion as the proprietors of the lands there shall 
order and determine at their meetings for such purposes called and 
held : And that the said Moses Rice call a meeting to be held in 
said Township, at some reasonable future time, (by putting up 
notifications of the time, place and purpose of holding the same at 
said Charlemont, and at Lancaster in the County of Worcester,) 



15 

and thai the proprietors, so met, hare the power to choose a clerk, 
treasurer, assessors, collectors, and all officers necessary for the 

lc\ \ iii^, and collecting said tax from time to time, and to a. 

upon and determine the disposition of the money raised by said 

tax as tiny .shall see meet, only lor the purposes aforesaid: — and 
to agree upon any method of calling meetings for the future — the 

always to be collected according to the majority of the 

interest present." 

On the same day, and in answer to the petition previously 
quoted, which sets forth the destruction of his property by the 

Indians, the House granted to (.'apt. Rice one hundred acres of 
land, " at the south end " of the township, " in consideration of 
his services for the Government, and the Losses he sustained ;" to 
be Laid out " at the cost and charge of the petitioner, by Joseph 
Wilder, Jr., Esq., to prevent damage being done to the province 
land that shall be left." 

.Mr. Wilder was from Lancaster; and, by virtue of two pur- 
chases — one made in October, from William Ward, the other No- 
vember 1, from John C'heckley — had become sole proprietor of all 
those portions of the township yet remaining unsold. As the 
result of this purchase, another class of men were introduced, 
coming mostly from Lancaster, Leominster, and other towns in 
that vicinity, whose active exertions and hearty co-operation with 
the original settlers in their plans and efforts for the improvement 
of the place, were destined to have a most beneficent and lasting 
effect upon the infant community. These settled, for the most 
part, in the centre and northern portions of the township, in the 
territory now included in the town of Heath ; and not infre- 
quently, in the proprietary and town meetings of subsequent years, 
designated by the " river men " as the " Lancaster party;" 

Prominent among them was Jonathan White, of Leominster. 
He was the great grandson of Josiah White, who removed with his 
tWO siah and Thomas, from West England, and settled in 

Lancaster. Jonathan was born at Lancaster, on the homestead of 

his . March SI, lTU'J. He married Esther Wilder, the 

daughter of Joseph Wilder, Esq., June 22, L732, and about the 
same time removed to that part of the town known as the " Lan- 
C New or Additional Grant," which was afterwards, in 17 10, 
incorporated a- Leominster. Here he was a prominent actor in an 
enterprise for the public good ; in establishing schools ; in build- 



16 

ing a house for public worship, and settling a minister ; and in 
organizing a church, of which he was chosen the first deacon, No- 
vember 14, 1743. The Hon. David Wilder, the historian of the 
town, says of him : " Col. Jonathan White was the greatest land- 
holder, the most wealthy man, the best educated person then in 
town, and a perfect gentleman of those days." Having acquired 
a large interest in Charlemont, through Mr. Wilder — his brother- 
in-law, as I suppose — he at once engaged heartily and efficiently 
in all efforts for improving the infant settlement. Although not a 
resident of the town, till in extreme age he lived with his son, 
yet no man, besides the leading members of the first three families 
of settlers, rendered more important services to the town than Col. 
White. 1 

But to return to our narrative. On the 9th day of December, 
only four days after the passage of the act which I have recited, 
Capt. Rice issued his warrant for the first legal meeting of the 
Proprietors, to be held at his house in Charlemont, on Wednes- 
day, the 17th day of January, 1753. 

At the appointed time and place, the meeting was held, and 
transacted the following business : Capt. Rice was chosen Modera- 
tor ; Joseph Wilder, Jr., was elected Proprietors' Clerk ; Othniel 
Taylor, Treasurer ; Eleazer Hawks, Moses Rice, and Joseph 
Wilder, Jr., Assessors ; and Capt. Jonathan White, of Leomin- 
ster, and Gershom Hawks, of Charlemont, Collectors. 

Dea. Israel Houghton, Capt. Jonathan White, and Joseph 
Wilder, Jr., were chosen a Committee to lay out highways and 
other roads in the north part of the township, and directed to 
report their doings at the next meeting ; and Messrs. Othniel Tay- 
lor, Gershom Hawks, and Aaron Rice, were chosen to perform a 
like service in the south part of the township. 

It was agreed that all proprietors' meetings should be held in 
Charlemont ; to be called whenever five of the proprietors should 
apply therefor, by a notification of the clerk, setting forth the 
time, place and purposes of the meeting, to be posted at Charle- 
mont, Lancaster and Worcester, at least fourteen days previously 
thereto. 

It was also voted to pay " Mr. Aaron Rice, who hath built a 
Corn Mill in said town, which is allowed by the proprietors to be 
of public use for the town, 170£ Old Tenor, in part satisfaction 

1 Vide Appendix F. 



17 

fin building said mill, and it is to be inserted in the next notifica- 
tion for a meeting, when the mill shall be finished, what the pro- 
prietors will do further ; — Provided the said Aaron Rice will give 
a sufficient obligation to the Propriety to keep said mill in repair, 

and grind at all Convenient times for the proprietors, taking one- 
sixteenth part for toll, and no more ; and to keep said mill in 
repair for the space of ten years from this day." 

One hundred pounds, old tenor, were appropriated horn the 
first year's tax to pay lor preaching, and Mleazcr Hawks. Moses 
Rice and Joseph \\ ilder, Jr., were appointed a "committee to pro- 
vide tor the same the current year." 

Thus the legal organization of the place as a Plantation, or 
'• Propriety," was completed ; and the settlement and improve- 
ments went forward with increased vigor. On the 20tb of May, 
Mr. 'Taylor took the prescribed oath, and entered upon his duties 
as Treasurer, which duties he continued to perform during the 
existence of the proprietorship. 

In the same month, the second legal proprietors' meeting WSS 
held at the house of Capt. Rice. After choosing him " to govern 
the meeting." it was adjourned to Aaron luce's corn mill, to view 
it, and consider " what further sum of money ought to he granted 
to him M for finishing it. "After debates on that affair," it was 
voted to give Mr. Rice "thirteen pounds, six shillings and eight 
pence, in addition to y twenty-one pounds, thirteen shillings and 
four pence, granted at y e last meeting, and on the same condi- 
tions." On their return to the house, the proprietors also voted 
'• to give said Aaron Kice the saw-mill irons belonging to y' pro- 
prietors, and to compleat the set, he engaging to build a saw mill 
on the brook he hath built the corn mill on, ami to saw bords for 
the proprietor- at \' same juices, and sell holds at \' same price 
that they are sold for at Dcei field, for \ " space of' ten years next 
ting." The meeting was then adjourned to the 30th instant, at 
the same pfa 

Having assembled on that day, the proprietors immediately 
adjourned to the place where they proposed " to sel the meeting- 
house." — •* near the south line," and the "SOUth-west corner of V 
farm called Hancock's farm, as it was first laid out." Here thev 
" viewed and marked out a place for the meeting-house to stand 
on : " " which place is a little south of y B south line of said Han- 

Earm, between it and \' north line of Thou irne's 



18 

land." They " voted that the house should be five-and-thirty feet 
long, thirty feet wide and eighteen feet stud ; " and " chose Capt 
Moses Rice, Capt. Thomas Stearns and Joseph Wilder, Jun., a 
committee to agree with Mr. Thomas Dicks to set up a frame," and 
to " finish said house on the outside and to lay the lower floor." 

They also allowed " Capt. Rice to work six pounds, thirteen 
shillings and eight pence, of his first year's tax laid on the lands 
belonging to him and his sons, in making convenient ways to the 
mills that his son Aaron hath built and engaged to build, for the 
highway he hath marked into the centre of the town, with the 
other services he hath done for the Propriety for which he hath had 
no pay." 

At this meeting the agreement with Aaron Rice, in regard to 
the corn mill and. saw mill, was completed. Mr. Rice gave his 
bond in the penalty of £100, lawful money, for the faithful per- 
formance of the conditions imposed upon him, as set forth in the 
votes already quoted, in consideration of £40, lawful money, and. 
a complete set of saw-mill irons voted him by the proprietors. 
This bond, witnessed by Jonathan White and Joseph Wilder, Jr., 
and dated May 30, 1753, is still in existence. And the mill itself, 
continued to do a good work, at the prescribed rates, for the pro- 
prietors and the good people of this and the neighboring towns, 
until it was carried away by a flood in the year 1775. A second 
mill was built upon the opposite, or east bank of the stream, which 
gave place to a larger and more improved structure, built by Mr. 
David Crittenden in 1822, and which still stands. The saw mill 
likewise engaged to be built, continues to saw " bords " for the 
inhabitants to the present day. This meeting was adjourned to 
the first Wednesday of the next September, at the same place ; 
but no meeting appears to have been held till the following 
summer. 

The committee, charged with the business of " procuring preach- 
ing," were not remiss in their duties. From various orders, 
receipts and bills of account yet in existence, it appears that four 
different clergymen, at least, performed divine service in the town 
during this and the following year. We have the Rev. C. M. 
Smith's order, dated at Hatfield, October 24, 1753, for £40 (old 
tenor) worth of preaching. We have the order of the proprietors' 
clerk upon the treasurer, in favor of Rev. Eleazer May and Rev. 
Mr. Treat, who preached each four weeks. The Rev. Mr. Dickin- 



11) 

son is also named) with those before mentioned, in an account 
of Capt Rice for board and horse keeping. While upon this 

1 may as well state, although running before the order of 
time, that in later yean of the proprietorship, Rev. Simeon Str< 

bed in the year 1760 j and Rev. Kliphalet llunting'nu and 

Rev. Mr. Swan, in the years 1762 and 1763. During the latter 
also, Rev. .Mr. Jones, the first proprietor and inhabitant of 
Myrifield — now Bows — officiated from May to October. 1 have 
been able to find no further information in regard to ministerial 
lahors in the place previous to its incorporation. 

The committee, appointed for that purpose, made a contract with 
Mr. Dicks ldr building the meeting-house, and he proceeded to set 

up the frame the same season, the summer of 17-VJ; hut, for 
■us winch are no longer known, he did not perform his con- 
tract further, and the frame was never covered, although it stood 
tor several years, as we shall hereafter see. 

During the same summer, Jonathan White and Benjamin Bal- 
lard built a dwelling-house near the mcetingdiouse frame* on the 

opposite side of the road and north of the woods which are 
now standing, and in which the meeting-house was placed. This 
house w^as on the same spot where Deacon James White after- 
wards lived and died, and is believed to be the same house 
occupied by him, and still standing. These same persons also 
framed and erected another house, in the summer of 1754, at the 
foot of *' Meeting-house hill," near the burying-ground given to 
the town by ('apt. White.) 

On the last Wednesday, the 26th of June, 1754, the fourth 
proprietors' meeting, of which we have any record, was held in 
the morning, at the dwelling near the frame just spoken of, and 
Caleb Dana was moderator. It was adjourned to meet in the 
afternoon, at the new house which was framing at the foot of the 
hill. The following business was transacted : 

M Bes lace, Othniel Taylor and Jonathan White, wire i hosen 
a committee "to layout and mend the way up to the nieetiug- 
. and to mend the public road in said town*" 

1: n ■ I ■'/, To accept the town road from the count] 

1 'I'mrn licoir 1771. " Voted, To accept of the land Col. Jonathan 

"White gave to the town for a burying-place." This burying place, which is the 
oldest public one in Charlemont, has recently been inch ted anew by a substantial 
stone wall, by vote of the town. 



•20 

by the river up to y e new meeting-house frame, as near the way 
that is now marked as may be with convenience, and that those 
that work at said way shall have twenty shillings — old tenor — a 
day ; they working ten hours in a day, which shall be accounted a 
day's work." 

-It was also " Voted, That Mr. Dicks (the contractor) be notified 
to cover the roof of the meeting-house with boards and shingles, 
and board the gable ends." 

The meeting " accepted a hundred acres of land for a lot for 
the first minister that shall be settled in said town — to lay south 
of the lot No. 2, in Hancock's farm, and to be 200 rods long and 
80 rods wide." One hundred pounds, old tenor, were also voted 
for preaching this year. 1 

But these improvements, so auspiciously begun, were destined 
to receive a sudden and disastrous check. Already the war-cloud 
was gathering, which was soon to burst over their defenceless 
heads. 

The peace of Aix la Chapelle was but a hollow truce. Indeed, 
the high contracting parties themselves hardly regarded it as more 
than a suspension of hostilities — a postponement of the inevitable 
and final struggle for sole dominion on the North American conti- 
nent. No sooner had peace been declared in 1748, than the 
French began to strengthen their interest with the Indian tribes, in 
furtherance of their plans of future and more extensive coloniza- 
tion. Already in possession of the St. Lawrence and the lakes, 
and also of the Mexican Gulf, and having explored and learned 
the value of the vast regions lying north and west of the Ohio, 
they undertook, by the erection of a chain of fortresses, extending 
from their northern to their southern possessions through the In- 
dian country, to shut the passages of the Alleghanies and of the 
lakes against the English settlers, and forever to confine them to 
the Atlantic coast. In pursuance of this plan, and in spite of their 
treaty obligations, they seized upon and fortified strong positions at 
Crown Point, Oswego, Niagara, and at the confluence of the 
Monongahela and Alleghany rivers. 



1 In this case, as in that of the price of a day's work, the rough notes of the 
clerk, from which I copied, give the sums in " old tenor ; " the proprietors' records, 
a few leaves of which have recently been discovered, give these sums in "lawful" 
currency,— making the 20 shillings, 2 shillings and 8 pence ; and the 100 pounds, 
£13 6s. $d. ; the ratio being 7£ to 1. 



21 

'The English colonists were not prepared to rest satisfied with 
the successful issue of projects like these. They, too, had an eye 
ujxm the magnificent domains which adventurous explorers 
reported ;i> l\in:_ r far beyond the Alleghanies. Besides, they 
well understood, that the question was not Bimply whether they 
should extend their settlements beyond the mountains, but also, 
and more especially, whether, being confined to the Atlantic sh 
they should Long be Buffered to remain in quiet there — nay, to exist 
at all ou the soil which they had bo Long occupied. Moreover, 
the New England Colonists had not forgotten the bitter wars of 
tinnier years, when the Indian's hate and greed of vengeance hail 
been stimulated by the wily and ghostly professors of an opposing 
faith. They well knew that the conflict which was coming, would 

issue not only in lite or death to themselves, but in the extermina- 
tion of the ProteituM Faith, which they held dearer than hie. 
And, a-> the Struggle approached, they did not hesitate or waver. 
A centurv and a quarter before, their lathers had planted in these 
wilds the institutions which they had inherited; and theirs was 
the duty to transmit the blessed boon; and no storm, however 
threatening, could drive them from the high trust. 

Massachusetts took early measures to put her frontiers in a state 
of defence, and, at the same time, to co-operate vigorously with 
her sister Colonies in destroying the strong holds already men- 
tioned — especially those at Oswego and Crown Point, the latter ot 
■which had been the source of so much annoyance in the former 
W8T. On the western frontiers, by the advice of Col. Israel 
Williams — .since the death of Col. Stoddard, the commander of 
the northern Hampshire regiment — a system of defence 
adopted, similar to that of the former war. Forts Dummer and 
Massachusetts, and the block-houses in Falltown and Coleraine, 

were repaired and their garrisons strengthened. Forts Shirley and 
Pelham, however, weee abandoned; and, instead, the fomirtfw on 
the Deerfield were encouraged to build forts around their dwell- 
ings. The summer of 1754 was employed in this work. Mi 

horn, Joshua and Seth Hawks moved their two 1. a to 

each other, and surrounded them with pickets. I ,'• Eti ■ and 

his -"ii- fortified his house under tin- hill, and Messrs. Othniel 

and Jonathan Taylor enclosed their dwellings in like manner. 
These defences were made bv themselves and at their OWH 



22 

with the expectation that soldiers would be furnished and the 
expense of erection repaid by the government. 

From a petition presented by the Messrs. Hawks to the General 
Court, October 17, it appears that they had expended six pounds, 
and that six more were needed to complete their works. 

Othniel Taylor presented a like petition on the 18th, accom- 
panied with a rough sketch of his fort, and a statement of the 
items of expense, amounting' in the whole to £10 4s. 4d. His 
line of pickets inclosed a space one hundred feet long and eighty 
feet wide. 1 

Although Indian depredations were frequent during this season, 
in various quarters, and evidences were not wanting that the enemy 
were lurking in the woods at Charlemont, as appears from the 
language of one of the petitions referred to, and from concurrent 
tradition, I cannot learn that any soldiers were stationed here by 
the government, till after the events of the eleventh of June, in 
the following summer. 

As the spring of 1755 drew on, the inhabitants lived in constant 
fear of attack, and were forced to use sleepless vigilance. Dogged 
by night and by day by an invisible foe, they went to their daily 
task, with muskets in their hands, and the faithful dog to scent the 
enemy ; while women and children could not pass the inclosures 
without a guard. 

On Wednesday morning, the eleventh day of June, 1755, Capt. 
Rice, his son Artemas Rice, his grandson Asa Rice — a boy nine 
years of age — Titus King, Phineas Arms, and others, went into 
the meadow which lies south of the present village road, having 
Mill-brook on the east and Rice's brook on the west, for the 
purpose of hoeing corn. Capt. Rice was ploughing and the boy 
riding the horse ; the others were engaged in hoeing, except one 
who acted as sentinel — passing through the field, from brook to 
brook, with musket in hand — while the fire-arms of the others 
were placed against a pile of logs near the western brook. This, 
instead of flowing in a direct line to the river, as at present, entered 
the field at some distance below where the road now runs, and 
passed in a south-easterly direction nearly to the mouth of Mill- 
brook. Meanwhile a party of six Indians, as tradition informs us, 
having carefully observed their victims from the neighboring hill, 
stole cautiously down the western brook ; and, concealed by the 

1 Appendix G. 



■J.\ 

thick brush-wood upon its hanks, watched till the working patty 
were Dear to Mill-brook and farthest from their fire-arms, When 
1 1 1 « \ suddenly tired and rushed upon the defenceless party. 

Arms tell dead in the corn-Held ; ( 'apt. Rice received a severe 

wound in the thigh and was taken prisoner, together with the lad 

upon the horse, and Titus King, a young man, and a relation of 

( 'apt. Rice. Artemas Rice escaped, alter a hot pursuit, and reached 

Taylor's fort at noon. The inmates of the house in the adjoining 
Held, hearing the firing, fled to the fort 1 

The Indians, however, made no further attack, hut withdrew 
with their three captives to the high plain in rear of the present 
public house. Here tin' aged and wounded man was left alone, 
with a single savage, to meet his late. After a fearful struggle, he 
fell beneath the tomahawk, and was left, scalped and bleeding, Io- 
dic. Late in the day he was found yet alive, and brought to his 
son's house, where he expired in the evening. 

The other prisoners were led to Crown Point, and thrncc to 
Canada. The lad was ransomed after a captivity of six years. 

" King was carried to France, thence to England, whence he at 
length returned to Northampton, his native place." - 

On receiving the alarm, Mr. Taylor hastened to Deerfield for 
succor, and returned the same night with twenty-five men. They 
proceeded up the river in the morning to Rice's fort, but only to 
witness the desolations of the preceding day, and to render their 
kind offices to thi' stricken family in the burial of the dead. Sad. 
indeed, was this the Hist burial day in Charlemont : sad, when 
and daughters, and their little ones, looked for the last time 
into the mangled face of the aged sire, and buried him in silence 
and gloom beneath his own soil. His grave was made upon tin- 
slope of the hill near his dwelling ; and here also, by his ride, they 
buried the young man, Phineas Arms, who had fallen with him in 

the field. 

Their graves remain with us to-day. And here shall I not be 
pardoned for Baking if tin- time has not come, when the descend- 
ants of the venerable man, and the citizens of the town which he 
first s,t:led, will see to it that the sacred spot, set apart by him as 



1 It was in this flight that Dinah Kiie made those marvelous, if not fabulous 
"jumps," of sixteen or eighteen feet each, with which tradition has made us 
familiar. 

s Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches. 



24 

a burial-place forever, and the hallowed depository of his mortal 
remains and those of his children's children, shall be guarded by 
an appropriate inclosure, from the intrusive ploughshare, and the 
unhallowed feet of cattle and swine ? 1 

Of Phineas Arms, we know but little. He was the son of 
William and Rebecca Arms, and was born at Deerfield, October 
4, 1731. He Avas admitted to the church in that town, on the 
4th of May, five weeks before his untimely death. 

Capt. Rice was the ninth of the eleven children of John Rice 
and Tabitha Stone, his wife, and was born at Sudbury, October 
27, 1694 ; and was in the sixty-first year of his age at the time of 
his death. He was the great grandson of Edmund Rice, Avho 
emigrated from Berkhampstead, in Hertfordshire, England, and 
settled in Sudbury, in the year 1638 or 9, in that part of the town 
now called Wayland. He was an intelligent, energetic, and greatly 
useful man in his town. He was for many years a " commissioner 
to end small causes," and frequently chosen as a deputy to the 
General Court. He died at an advanced age, leaving a large fam- 
ily. His posterity are numerous, and widely scattered over the 
land. 

Capt. Rice married Sarah King, at Sudbury, November 16, 
1719, where his first child, Samuel, Avas born August 10, 1720. 
Soon afterwards he removed to Worcester, and kept a tavern upon 
the ground since occupied by the United States Hotel. Here his 
remaining children, six in number, were born. While at Wor- 
cester, he was captain of a company of cavalry. 

In 1724, he was posted with others at Rutland, in a garrison 
commanded by Capt. Samuel Wright. The date of his removal 
to Rutland is not known. He had two brothers, who lived in 
Rutland, where many of their descendants are still to be found ; — 
Edward, an older brother, born in 1689, and Aaron, who com- 
manded a company in the French war, in 1658, and died that 
year, at Crown Point. 

Capt. Rice's subsequent history has already been detailed, so far 
as it is now known. Of his character, we know little more than 
what is revealed in the acts of his life. Doubtless it was of that 
strong cast, which our early New England institutions and the 

1 I am happy to say, that the town has instructed the Committee appointed to 
publish this Address, to inclose this oldest of its burial-places with a substantial 
fence. 



25 

perilous tinier in which he lived were -<> well calculated to pro- 
duce. Early and thoroughly instructed in (he great doctrines of 
the Bible ; fearing God and revering law, whether administered in 
the family, the church, or the state; intelligent, industrious, hardy 
and fearless ; our Fathers wire lit men to Jay broad and deep the 
foundations of a mighty empire. 1 

Alter the death of Capt. Rice, the people of Charlemont miI- 
1 no further Indian depredations. The forces, raised for the 
reduction of Crown Point, wire already on their march; and the 
contest began to he transferred from the holder settlements to Lake 
Champlaio and Canada. Hereafter, the French and their Indian 
allies found work enough in defending their own territories, and 
time for plunder ami bloodshed in New England. 

During the summer of 1755, twenty-five men were stationed at 
Charlt imont, but none of them at Rice's fort, on account, doubt- 
less, of its exposed position under the hill which commanded it. 
Having received from the General Court the promise to furnish 
eight soldiers for a new garrison, Samuel Rice and his brothers 
removed the fort from their father's house, and built a new one 
around the house in the meadow.- In the spring of 1707, he was 
allowed to enlist six soldiers to be stationed at the new fort, who 
were " to receive the same pay, and be discharged at the same 
time as the other soldiers stationed in the town." 

The petition of Mr. Rice for this object, presented in April, 
IT") 7. makes among others, the following statements: "That there 
tree any improvements (as is known to members of this Court) 
but what is made by your petitioners ; that they annually raise 
a considerable amount of grain and other provisions, having now 
near twenty acres of winter corn in the ground, and mow more 

H and keep more cattle than the whole place, and arc the own- 
ers of the only corn-mill in that part of the county." " Your 
petitioner also begs leave to say that Charlemont was granted on 
certain conditions of settlement, which, had they been complied 
with, the place would hive been a fine, flourishing town." 3 

From the fall of 1754 till the spring of 1762, while the war 
was raging, the country was so absorbed in the momentous contest, 
that little or no progress was made in the settlement of the town. 
The meeting-house frame still stood uncovered; of the three 
years' tax, granted in 1752, only the tax of two years had 

1 Appendix H. * Appendix I. 3 Appendix J. 



26 

been assessed ; and no general proprietors' meeting was held in 
the town during that period. A single meeting of the non- 
resident proprietors — described in the notification as the " propri- 
etors of the common and undivided lands " — was held in Boston, 
at the house of Capt. Nathaniel Richardson, August 26, 1761, of 
which Col. Jonathan White was moderator. Caleb Dana, Esq., and 
Col. White, were appointed a committee " to see that the frame set 
up in said town, be covered and inclosed, and also to lay the lower 
floor." Mr. White was likewise directed " to clear the way from 
the river to the meeting-house, and to make it fit for waggons 
to pass." 

The year wore away, however, and nothing appears to have been 
done ; for we have a brief record of another meeting, " legally 
notified " and held at the house of Mr. Taylor, in Charlemont, on 
" y e 2d Thirdsday " of April, 1762, to choose a committee " to 
finish the meeting-house and give them their instruction; " but 
with no results — the meeting being adjourned, after choosing Silas 
White moderator, to the 15th of April — "at which time," says the 
clerk, " there was no meeting." 

Still another meeting of the " proprietors and inhabitants " was 
duly called and held at Mr. Taylor's house, May 27, 1762. At 
this meeting, Col. Jonathan White and Aaron Rice were chosen 
assessors in the place of Moses Rice, deceased, and Eleazer Hawks, 
who declined serving longer on account of old age. Col. White, 
Joseph Wilder and Aaron Rice, were chosen a committee to settle 
with the treasurer for the two years' tax ; and " to see to covering 
the meeting-house, or, if the former frame will not do, to set up a 
new frame and cover it." 

The certificate of the committee, dated May 31, shows that the 
treasurer had received and disbursed £122 19s. 10d., and that there 
remained of the two years' tax uncollected, £60 3s. 4d. 

The committee decided that the " former frame would not do," 
and on the 27th of June following, made a contract with Thomas 
Dick, to build a new meeting-house, which is in these words : 

" Know all men by these presents, that I, Thomas Dick, of Pel- 
ham, in the County of Hampshire, Innholder, For and in considera- 
tion of a former obligation I gave to Mr. Othniel Taylor, Treasurer 
of Charlemont, to build a meeting-house in Charlemont, do by 
these presents covenant and engage to set up a frame in said town, 
in the place where the old frame now stands, it being 35 feet 



01 



by ;>(), and is feet post, to cover the outside with chaxnferred 
boards and the roof with boards and shingle-;, and to pul up 
weather boards, to lay the lower floor with boards on sleepei 
joice well supported, and to complete the same, workmanlike, by 
the Last day of September next Otherwise, on failure thereof, to 
pay Baid Treasurer ;.(> pounds for the use of said proprietors. 

" Thou \- Di< k. 

" N. B. The proprietors are to find boards, nails and Bhingles, 
and rum for the raising." 

The parties, I believe, performed their contract, and the house 
was erected upon the site of the old frame; but it was never 
finished ; nor can 1 learn that it was ever occupied for public wor- 
ship. The inhabitants were few in number, and for the most pait 
of small moans; the penny tax on the proprietors' lands tame in 
slowly ; besides, the situation of the house was most inconvenient 
for the " river people ; " and hence its completion was not likely 
to call forth any special efforts from them. Its removal soon 
became the subject of discussion; and one of the objects of the 
last proprietors' meeting of which we have any account, held 
June 5, 1765, was "to see if the proprietors will agree to move 
the meeting-house to a more convenient place." It was not 
removed, however, but continued to stand till the year 17o!». when 
it was sold to the late Col. Asaph White, who remodeled the 
frame and erected it upon his premises as a dweUing-house. 
It was occupied as such by himself and his son, Lieut. David 
White, for more than half a century. 

Two proprietors' meetings were held in 1763 ; both at the 
house of Othniel Taylor. At the first, June 17th, it was " Voted, 
To discontinue the road laid out from the river so far as Col. 
White's house, and order it laid out east and west from said 
White's house to the county road, as near where it is now trod as 
may be with convenient 

From the accounts allowed, I give the following as showing how 

the meeting-house was »• set up," and preaching supplied at 

that time : — 

£ s. d. 

ph Wilder for underpinning the meeting-house, ■! 19 I 

Aaron Rioe, boards for the same 5 

Paid for "nates'* for same 1 10 

Bam'l Rice's socM t'..r th Raising ." L6 •"> 

Artemas Rice's aoe'1 far provision for the raising, fee. . . 3 l 



28 

[Whether the word "provision" included the important item in 
the contract with Mr. Dick, of " rum for the raising," does 
not appear.] 

£ *. d. 

Also Col. White's acc't for money paid in, May and 

October, 1762, for Mr. Huntington, 568 

Same for "Keeping" Mr. Swan, 2 2 

Paid Mr. Swan for preaching 6 days, 8 3 

It was also " Voted, To allow ten pound of the money yet to be 
gathered for preaching ; and that ' Mr. Taylor and Mr. Aaron 
Hice be desired to provide a preacher.' " 

At the second meeting, held October 20th, Messrs. White, 
Dana and Wilder, were chosen a committee to petition the General 
Court for a new penny tax, for three years, on all the lands in the 
township, " Except the lands of the Honorable Thomas Hancock, 
Esq., Captain David Baldwin, and the heirs of Mr. Kinnicome," 
(Cunningham,) " who have generously given away one half of 
their lands to settlers ;" and also " for a grant of lands to be laid 
out in the unappropriated lands of the Province, in lieu of the 
land taken of Charlemont by Coldreane." 

In pursuance of this vote, on the 6th of June, 1764, Mr. 
Wilder presented a petition to the House, reciting the circum- 
stances under which the place had been settled, and asking for the 
proposed tax, expended " for finishing the meeting-house, support 
of the gospel, and clearing the roads in the said place." The 
house received the petition favorably, and granted an order of 
notice to the proprietors to show cause at the next session. This 
order was not concurred in by the Council. At the next session, 
however, the matter was revived by the Council, and the petition, 
with the remonstrance of William Read, Esq., referred, January 
30, 1765, to a joint committee of the Council and House. But I 
do not find that any further proceedings were had upon the 
petition. 

Meanwhile, the period of the proprietorship was drawing to a 
close. The last meeting of the " proprietary " was held at the 
house of David White, June 5, 1765, when it was agreed " to set 
apart lot number one, of four hundred acres, east of Mr. Rice's 
farm ; lot number — , of about five hundred acres, at the falls ; * 
and the remainder in lot number three, for the public lots." 

1 This lot, whose number is illegible, was situated, I suppose, on the left bank 
of the Peeifield, at Shelburne Falls, and is the site of the village. 



29 

A committee, consisting of CoL White, Othniel Taylor and 
Aaron Rice, was chosen to make application to the General Court 
for a tax of one penny an acre on all except public lands, and 
for an act of incorporation. 

In answer to the Becond branch of their petition for the pur- 
poses aforesaid, an act of incorporation was granted, June £1, 
l~i'>o ; and " Thomas W illiams, Esq., was empowered to issue his 
warrant" to call the first town huh ting. 

The application for the tax did not receive the immediate action 
of the General Court. Nevertheless, the act of incorporation 
embraced a provision, looking to favorable action in the future, 

"That all taxes that are, or are to he raised lor settling a minister, 
for building a meeting-house, clearing and repairing roads, be 
levied on the several proprietors of said Plantation, according to 
their interests, until the further order of this Court," \i. 

At the following winter session, on the 4th of February, the 
petition for the tax was sent down from the Council to the lb 
and there " read and revived," and the non-resident proprietors 
ordered " to be notified to show cause on the second Wednesday 
of next May Session." Further proceedings on this petition were 
superseded by the subsequent action of the town. 

On the 6th day of January, 17(>(j, in obedience to the warrant 
of Thomas Williams, Esq., the inhabitants of Charlemont assem- 
bled in its first legal " town meeting," at the house of David 
A\ bite, and completed the organization of the place by the election 
of town officers. At a subsequent meeting, on the 31st of March, 
Aaron Kice was chosen as the agent of the town to petition the 
General Court for the long delayed tax upon the lands. 

Mr. Rice entered upon the work with his accustomed energy 
and zeal, lie presented to the General Court, June 4th, a petition 
detailing, more fully than the previous petitions had done, the past 
history and the present condition of the town. Among other 
things, he says that the "grantees have so conducted their affairs, 
as to have at this time, (after thirty years,) only thirty families 
settled ;" notwithstanding the tax previously granted and raised 
" for building meetinghouse, mills, and the support of public 
worship," that the u meeting-house is only raised and covered, and 
they have no mini d ; and that one-half of the inhabitants 

are in low circumstances, whereby they are unable to do those 
things for themselves ;" and he prays " that the non-resident 



30 

proprietors may be obliged to fulfill the conditions of settle- 
ment, so far as belongs to them," and for the grant of the three 
years' tax beforementioned. 

The petition was read, and an order passed by both Houses, 
" that the non-resident proprietors be notified to show cause why 
the tax should not be granted, and why they had not complied 
with the conditions of the grant." 

February 6, 1767, Mr. Rice's petition was read again in the 
Council, and, with the answer of William Read, Esq., referred to 
a joint committee of both Houses. The committee reported on the 
17th, the following order, winch was agreed to, and approved by 
the Governor the next day. 

" Ordered, That there be a tax of one penny per acre, yearly, 
granted for three years, upon all the lands in the town of Charle- 
mont, (public lands excepted,) and that the money thereby arising 
be applied as follows, viz : fifty pounds, part of said money, towards 
finishing the meeting-house already set up in said town, and that 
the remainder of it be applied to pay for preaching the gospel and 
settling and supporting a minister ; and that said tax be final, so 
far as respects those proprietors who have settled a proportion- 
able number of families in said town. The petitioners to enter an 
account of their doings in the Town Books." 

The acts of incorporation and the penny tax now granted, bring 
us to the close of the administration of affairs by the proprietors. 
And here let us pause for a moment, and review the ground we 
have traversed. We have seen, thirty years before, the grant of 
the territory to the town of Boston, coupled with certain strict 
conditions with regard to its settlement, and the establishment of 
the institutions of religion and of education therein ; we have 
seen it sold at auction, to a single purchaser, and by him aliened 
in large tracts, to others, with little reference to the performance of 
these conditions ; we have beheld the pioneer settler wending his 
way with his family up the Deerfield — the Pocumtuck of the 
Indian — and erecting his cabin on the banks of the " sweet rolling 
river," 1 and, after a few years of successful labor, fleeing before the 
savage foe, and his dwelling burnt, and his improvements de- 
stroyed; and, as peace returned, we have seen him return and 
build again ; and, after him, other adventurers taking their places 
beside him on the " river " and on the " hill ;" we have seen the 

1 This is said to be the interpretation of the Indian word, " Pocumtuck." 



31 

"' Place called Cherley ^Mount " assume the organization of a plan- 
tation, and the evidences of improvement and the means of comfort 
multiplying; and, as tin 1 wilderness began to smile, we have Been 

the cloud, black with terror and death, bursting upon the infant 
settlement, and the patriarch of the valley laid in his bloody grave, 

and all improvements stopped, and the cleared lands beyond the 

protection of the torts, abandoned and growing up again to a wil- 
derness ; and finally, when the dreary contest had closed, and the 

jge enemy had been driven from their holders forever) We have 
beheld the returning settlers clearing their fields and struggling 
hard to lay the foundations of a prosperous community, to secure 
for themselves and their children the privileges which you and I 
have so richly enjoyed. And now we behold them, a little band 
of " thirty families," incorporated and organized as the town of 
Charlemont. 

As yet, however, the blessings which our New England Fathers 
ever prized the highest, and struggled the hardest to secure — the 
church and the school — had no existence among them. True, wc 
have seen, for the second time, the meeting-house " set up and 
covered," but it still stood unfinished and unoccupied by worship- 
ers. Occasional religious services had, indeed, been held by 
various preachers, but no pastor had been settled, to "go in and 
out" before the people, with his daily and weekly ministrations. 
Hitherto the pioneer families on the river had looked to Deerfield 
for special religious privileges. The leading members of th 
families united themselves with the church in that place, and for 
many years frequently resorted thither fnr the enjoyment of those 
privileges ; especially for the celebration of the Lord's supper, and 
the baptism of their children. 

Nor does it appear that any attempts had been made to provide 
public school instruction for their children. The children of that 
troubled day had no other school than the fireside. Hut here they 
not neglected. With the English Bible as the text-book, 
and father and mother as instructors ami exemplars, they drank in 
those principles and acquired those traits of character which well 
stood them, instead of the more varied acquirements of the schools, 
and amply qualified them to act nobly their parts in the stirring 
scenes >>i danger and of triumph so soon to open before them. 

It has not been my purpose to attempt to give a connected his- 
tary of the town after its incniporation ', still, I should fail to do 



32 

justice to the early Colonists, without giving some notices of their 
further and finally successful efforts in establishing the institutions 
of religion and of education, and also of their patriotic labors and 
sacrifices in support of the American Revolution. 

No sooner was the penny tax for the support of preaching 
granted, than they commenced the work of providing a pastor for 
the town. On the 16th of March, David White was sent to Wai- 
pole, to invite the Rev. Jonathan Leavitt to preach as a candidate. 
And on the 24th of July following, it was " voted and agreed," in 
town meeting, " to settle a minister as soon as may be ; " and, in 
accordance with the advice of the " neighboring ministers," the 
town " proceeded to choose and call the Rev. Mr. Jonathan 
Leavitt to the work of the ministry among us." In case of his 
acceptance, it was furthermore voted to give him " One hundred 
pounds settlement " — sixty pounds the first year, and forty pounds 
the second ; and also an annual salary as follows : " Fifty pounds 
the first year, and to rise two pounds a year for five years, and 
there to continue until there are sixty families in town, and to 
rise one pound upon each family that shall be added above sixty, 
until it comes to eighty pounds a year, and there to remain during 
his continuance with us in the work of the ministry ; and likewise 
to find him his wood." 

In town meeting, August 8th, held at the meeting-house, 
" Voted, To build another meeting-house, half way from the one 
already built to Mr. David White's dwelling-house, or the nearest 
convenient place thereto, 45 feet long, 35 feet wide, and 20 feet 
posts ;" and Aaron Rice, Jonathan Taylor and Jonathan Hastings, 
were made a committee " to settle the place." 

At a subsequent meeting, held September 1, "at David White's 
house," Mr. Leavitt's answer to the " proposals " of the town was 
presented and accepted, and a committee chosen to provide for his 
installation ; Aaron Rice, Othniel Taylor and Gershom Hawks, 
the committee. It was also " agreed to build Mr. Leavitt a house, 
the description of which may be found in the old book." The 
house was built on the lot of one hundred acres, which had been 
set apart for the first minister, as already described. 

The installation, preceded by a solemn fast, and closed with 
feasting and rejoicing, according to the custom of the fathers, was 
duly celebrated, probably in the month of September. 

The committee " settled the place " for the new meeting-house ; 



and another committee disposed of the old edifice and built the 

new one, upon the brow of the mountain, south from the "min- 
ister's lot," overlooking the Deerfield, and since known as the 
"Meeting House Hill." The house was finished in the rammer 
and fall of 1769. 

Meanwhile a church had been organized, with Aaron Rice and 
Gerahom Elawki as deacons. The records of this church fit 

indeed it kept any) are lost; and with them the meani of ascer- 
taining the date of its organization. 1 Other hands have sketched 

the history of this church, with ample notices of its able pastor. 

1 shall, therefore, content myself with adding, that Mr. Leavitt 

continued for fourteen yean to minister acceptably to the united 
church and town in this house "set on a hill." And it was ;i 
goodly Sight, to behold the men, women and children of that day, 
from the most distant parts of the town — from the east end and 
the west end and across the Deerfield — for the most part on foot, 
save here and there a man on horseback, with his wile on a 
pillion behind him, wending their way on each returning Sab- 
bath, up the steep mountain's side, to worship the God of their 
fathers on its summit. At length, dissensions having arisen, Mr. 
Leavitt's dismission was voted by the town, and the meeting-house 
was closed against him, August 19, 1781. As these acts were not 
ratified by an ecclesiastical council, he continued to be the legal 
pastor, and to preach in the school-house on the Hill, to his friends 
who chiefly resided in that quarter of the town, till the formation 
of the church in Heath, April 15, 1785, when they withdrew, 
and the first church in (Jhai lemont ceased to exist. Their meeting- 
house was taken down and removed to Heath Centre in 1789, 
where it was occupied as a house of worship until 18.'33. 

Mr. Leavitt resided, during his lite, on the minister's lot already 
described, which, till within a short time, has remained in the 
possession of his descendants. He died in 1801. 

The first appropriation for public schools of which I find any 
record, was at the March meeting, 1770 ; when nine pounds were 
voted, and divided between the three districts — the upper and the 
lower end and the hill — in nearly equal parts. For some suc- 
ceeding years, the sum of fifteen pounds was raised yearly, and 
divided, £5 10*. to the "hill," £4 10s. to the "lower end," and 



1 After much inquiry, I have been unable to ascertain the precise date of Mr. 
Leavitt's installation. Doubtlew the church waa organized at the same time. 



34 

£5 to the " upper end." The system thus established, has con- 
tinued with varied success to the present day. 

A military company was organized in 1773, and Othniel Taylor 
was chosen captain. His commission bears date January 18, of 
that year. 

From the incorporation to the Revolution, a period of ten years, 
the town steadily increased in numbers and wealth. Settlers of an 
excellent character came in from various quarters, and became 
worthy coadjutors with the fathers of the town, in advancing its 
prosperity. Prominent among these are the familiar names of 
Avery, Bingham, Brooks, Fales, Hartwell, Gould, Maxwell, Nich- 
ols, Parker, Pierce, Temple, Thayer, White and Upton. 

We have no means of ascertaining the number of inhabitants, 
accurately, previous to the Revolution. The ratable polls, in 1778, 
were sixty-three, and in 1775, eighty-one. 

The valuation, in 1770, was, personal estate, £354 5s. Od. ; 
real estate, " reckoned at six years' income," £1,008 8s. Od. The 
province tax was £2 10s. The three highest tax-payers were, 
Othniel Taylor, taxed for £98 8s. real, and £21 lis. personal 
estate; Aaron Rice, for £84 0s. real, and £21 lis. personal ; and 
Daniel Kingsley, for £72 0s. real, and £15 14s. personal. 

The Revolutionary History of Charlemont well deserves an 
ampler recital than 1 am able to give. She may safely challenge 
any sister town to show the record of a heartier devotion to the 
patriotic cause, or a more numerous catalogue of hardy soldiers 
and able officers, in proportion to her population. 

In answer to the letters of the " Committee of Correspondence" 
at Boston, the "inhabitants and freeholders," on the 25th of Octo- 
ber, 1773, unanimously adopted, and ordered to be recorded, the 
report of their committee, — which, after expressing the " warmest 
sentiments of loyalty to, and the highest respect for, the sacred 
person, crown and dignity of our right and lawful Sovereign, King 
George, the Third," proceeds to set forth, in strong terms, their 
burdens and grievances, and then says : " That the Inhabitants of 
this town hold sacred our excellent constitution, so dearly pur- 
chased by our forefathers ; that we also hold dear our possessions, 
so dearly purchased by ourselves, when, to settle this town and 
make it more advantageous to his Majesty, and profitable to our- 
selves and posterity, we have been alarmed by the yells of savages 



u 

about our ears, ami been shocked with scenes of our dearest fiicmis 
and nearest relatives butchered, scalped and captivated before our 
eyes, — we, our wives and children, forced to fly to garrison for 
safety ; therefore we must hold the man in the greatest scum ami 
contempt, who shall endeavor to rob us either of liberty or prop- 
erty." 

The town was represented in the Provincial Congress of 1774. 
by Lt. Hugh Maxwell, and in that of 177o. by Samuel Taylor. 

Their accounts for expenses were duly allowed and paid. 

A company of minute men was early formed. This company, 
with eighteen men from Myrifield, now Rowe, under Oliver Avery 
as Captain, and Hugh Maxwell as Lieutenant, marched to Cam- 
bridge, immediately after the engagements at Concord and Lexing- 
ton. When the various bands of volunteer troops were organised 
into a regular army, many of the Charlemont company enrolled 
themselves, and formed the second company, fifty-two in number, 
in CoL Prescott's regiment. Hugh Maxwell was commissioned as 
Captain, and Joseph Stebbins as Lieutenant, May 26. 

( 'apt. Avery, and a portion of his men, dissatisfied with this 
arrangement, returned home. Others still, who did not enlist per- 
manently, remained for some time as volunteers, and were engaged 
with the company in the battle of Bunker's Hill. Of this number 
was Josiah Pierce, lately deceased at an advanced age, who tired at 
the enemy forty-seven bullets, with an unerring aim which was 
proverbial in his time. Ebenezer Fales was killed in the battle, 
and ('apt. Maxwell dangerously wounded. The company ami its 
commander served through the war. Capt. Maxwell had already 
performed hard service in the French and Indian war. He was 
in the battle of Lake George, when Williams fell, and Dieskau was 
defeated and made prisoner ; and, two years later, at the capture of 
Fort William Henry, and barely escaped the massacre in which 
so many of his comrades fell, \\ v was present at Trenton and 
Princeton, at Stillwater and Saratoga ; and endured the horrors of 
the encampment at Valley Forge. He enjoyed the confidence of 
Washington, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. 
He was a brave and skillful officer, and a most valuable citizen. 
ed at sea, October 171Mb in the 67th year of his 

His brother, Benjamin Maxwell, was Lieutenant in the company 
of minute men. He also had served in the French and Indian 



36 

war. He was one of Maj. Rogers's rangers in the campaign of 
1758 ; and was in the engagement between the provincials under 
Putnam and Rogers and the Indians, in which Putnam was taken 
prisoner. 

From the families of the " first settlers," there were many 
actively engaged in the service. Sylvanus Rice, son of Capt. 
Moses, as Captain of the " minute men," was frequently employed 
in short terms of service. He led his company, at one time, to 
New London ; mortgaging his farm in order to raise the necessary 
means of equipment. 

Luther Rice, son of Capt. Sylvanus, was several years in the 
army, and died in the service at West Point, 1782. 

Moses and Samuel Rice, sons of Samuel, senior, were also in 
the continental service, probably each three years. Samuel was 
present on the northern frontier, when Ethan Allen's detachment 
joined the troops under Arnold, and witnessed the characteristic 
quarrel between these two officers in regard to the command of the 
united body. On the morning of the Battle of Bennington, Mr. 
Rice and others of the " minute men " started from Charlemont 
for that place. " Riding and tying " as they went through the 
wilderness, they made such haste, as to reach the field of action 
just as the second body of Hessians, under Breyman, were giving 
way, and joined in the final pursuit. Late in the following fall, he 
was sent from Bennington with three or four others — one of whom 
was Lemuel Roberts, also from Charlemont — to examine the ice 
on Lake George. While on their route through the deep snow 
in the roads, the party was overtaken and captured by a company 
of Canadians, and taken, first to Montreal, and afterwards to Que- 
bec. Their sufferings, from rigorous confinement and from the 
extreme cold, were intense. They contrived to escape from Quebec 
and made for the woods in the plain in the rear of the city. Here, 
being discovered by some woodmen, they were retaken and placed 
under a guard in one of the small islands in the St. Lawrence. 
When the ice left the river in the following spring, Mr. Rice, 
eluding the guard, seized a small canoe which was left unlocked, 
and made his way to the southern bank of the river ; with the 
scanty store of provisions which he had saved from his daily 
rations, in anticipation of flight, he started on his lonely journey 
through the deep woods between the Canadian and American 



settlements ; concealing himself by day at first, and traveling at 
night by the guidance of the stars, he reached his home, alter 
enduring almost incredible hardships, early in the summer. 

Martin Rice, the older brother of Samuel, and but recently 
deceased, was one of the volunteers with the Charlemonl company 
at Banker 1 OIL 

Kleazer Hawks, the son of Joshua, senior, was engaged in the 

battle of Bennington. Be had removed to that town just previ- 
ous to the war. 

Ephraim Hawks, son of Dea. Gershom, was a continental soldier, 
it is believed, through the war. 

Tcrtius and Othniel Taylor, sons of Othniel, senior, were both 
in the continental .service during the war. Tertius, who held a 
lieutenant's commission, was in most of the important battles in 
the middle and northern States ; at AVhite Plains and Kingsbridge, 
at Stillwater and Saratoga. He was one of "Mad" Anthony 
Wayne's storming party at Stoncy Point. 

Othniel held a captain's commission, probably in the same regi- 
ment with his brother, and, like him, was engaged in most of the 
important northern battles. He led his company at Stillwater and 
Saratoga. 

Many others, either as levies or as volunteers, performed service 
for longer or shorter periods. The records of the town show 
numerous votes of supplies to the families of soldiers who were 
serving their country in the field. 

In closing this meagre sketch of the revolutionary efforts of the 
town, I cannot but give expression to the hope, that its very scan- 
tiness will lead to the production of some ampler and more 
satisfactory record of this portion of our history, while so many 
traditions of the times yet linger amongst us. 

I have thus brought to a close, what I proposed to say with 
regard to the early history of Charlemont. I am well aware how 
far short it falls of a satisfactory chronicle. Most deeply do we 
deplore the loss, excepting a few leave-, of the Proprietors' Book 
of Records, which would have been an invaluable storehouse of 
materials for the early history of our town. In the absence of this, 
I have relied, as you have seen, upon such documents as have 
been preserved by the descendants of Capt. Othniel Taylor, the 
Proprietors' Treasurer ; also upon various memorials and petitions 



:3S 

of the early settlers to the General Court, with the action of the 
government upon them ; and, in addition to these, upon the tradi- 
tions which fell upon my ear in boyhood, or have been gathered in 
later years. Imperfect as these sketches are, if, however, they shall 
prove the means of exciting a more active inquiry into our early 
annals, and also induce a more careful preservation of the records 
of current events for the benefit of those who come after us ; if, 
especially, they shall succeed in exciting a deeper reverence for the 
persons and the principles of our fathers, then they will not have 
been wholly in vain. 

We are descended from men of no common mould. They 
were worthy sons of the men who first landed on these shores. 
These fathers of our fathers, were indeed a peculiar people. They 
were the seed-wheat, sifted by the winds of persecution from the 
chaff of the old world, and wafted across the sea, to be sown 
broadcast on the virgin soil of the new world. They were edu- 
cated men. From the university, and the parochial school, they 
brought hither the garnered science and liberal learning of their 
times. Above all, they had drunk deeply of purer streams — of 
the living waters of truth. They feared God, and bore true fealty 
to the obligations of justice and truth. They lived not for them- 
selves alone.. They acknowledged the claims of the future, and 
manfully strove to pay the debt. And, as were the fathers, so 
also were the sons whom we this day commemorate. Born in the 
wilderness, and reared amid dangers and hardships, if they had 
less of liberal culture, they exhibited in no less degree the higher 
and sterner virtues which their times demanded. True, also, to 
the future, they sowed that we might reap ; they labored, that we 
might enter into their labors ; they purchased with blood, that we 
might inherit in peace. May ours be the high privilege, as it is 
the solemn duty, to transmit this rich inheritance, unimpaired, to 
the generations yet to come. So shall we best honor the memory 
of the Fathers. 



A P I* E IN I) I \. 



APPENDIX A. page 12. 

The petition of Capt Rice, from which I have quoted in the text, together 

with the action of the General Court thereon, is as follows : 

Province of the Masaachuaetia Bay. 

To the Hon'ble Spencer Phipps, Esq., Lieut. Governor and Commander in 
Chief in and over said Province, the Hon'ble J I is Majesty's Council and 
House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, at Cambridge, Nov. 
224, 17.VJ. 

The Petition ef Moses Rice of a Place called Charlemont, in the County 
of Hampshire, Humbly Shews: 

That it is about Ten years since your Petitioner went to Live in said 
Place, and was the Bret Family that moved there, and hath remained there 
Constantly untill this Time (saving three years in the heat of the late Warr.) 
nor did your Petitioner remove till the very week Hoosuck Fort was taken 
by the Enemy. 

That your Petitioner has undergone great and uncomon Hardships, by 
8 ttleing in so distant a Place, being obliged to goto Deerfield to get his 
corn ground, which is about Twenty-Two miles, as the Road gins. 

That his living was of great service as he humbly apprehends, to the 
Publick, as being the only House where People could be Supplied. And as 
Soldiers were often Travailing that way, as well as small Partye on Scouts, 
it was very Expensive to your Petitioner, who often Snpply'd them at his 
own cost. 

That your Petitioner was solely at the cost of Building his House in ■ 
Defensible manner, nor was there any Soldiers allowed there (tho' BO I'.xpos'd 
a Place) Excepting a few month--. 

That as he was not defended he, at the Time aforesaid, drew off, and 
earned ins wife and Family i<> Deerfii Id. And returning in order to take 

Care of his Things, found Ins House was burnt, with a good Steel; of Pro- 
vision therein, (or cary'd away.) by the Enemy, 88 was all his Household 
Goods, with a Considerable parcel of Clothing, hi of Cattle being 

Seven even and Cows, together with Six very good fatt Hoggs, were all 
killed by the enemy,— his Crop of Grain, at Leasl Three Hundred Bushell, 
with all his Hay, Huabandy Tools, and many other things all destroyed — 
his Loss being at Leasl Fifteen Hundred Pounds, old T< nor. 

That as he was ready, at great Cost and I defending himself 

while he Tarry'd in said Plantation, "and his 1. Trufiy n 

sented " — he 

Therefore Humbly Prays be may obtain a Gran! of Land in the County of 
Hampshire, under such Restrictions and Limitations as may be consistant 
with your Honor and Honor's Known Wisdom and Goodness, "or other. 



40 

Releave your poor Petitioner as your Honors shall think fit." And as in 
Duty bound shall ever pray. 

Moses Rice. 

hi House of Reps., Dec. 4, 1752. 

Read and in answer to this Pe'tn, Ordered that there be granted to tbe 
Pe'tr his Heirs and Assigns forever, One hundred Acres of the Unappropri- 
ated Lands in the County of Hampshire, at the South End of Boston Town- 
ship Number One, in consideration of his services for the Government ; and 
the Losses He sustained, as sett forth in His Petition. And that the said 
Land be laid out at the Cost and Charge of the Petitioner, by Joseph Wilder, 
Junr., Esq., to prevent Damage being done to the Province Land that shall 
be left. 

The following statement of Capt. Rice before a Committee of the House 
of Representatives, throws further light upon the condition of things at the 
time spoken of in the text. 

April Slh, 1748. 
" The account of Moses Rice, late of Chisley Mount, as near as I Can, of Cer- 
tificates givin in to the Gen'l Court before the Town House was Burnt. 

By Col. Williams, Capt. Stevens and Levt Mitchal, For Pas- 
turage of Horses and Cattel on my Farm at Charleymount, 
the Summer past, £24. 0. 0. 

And for damage done to my flax on s'd farm by s'd horses and 

Cattel, 30. 0. 0. 

Also by Capt. Pattridge for Horse keeping, when he went to 
bury the Dead, at Fort Massachusetts, after the s'd Fort 
was taken, 10. 0. 0. 

old Tenour, £64. 0. 0. 

Moses Rice. 

It appearing to ye Committee that Petition of s'd Rice and vouchers to ye 
above accounts were burnt with ye town House, and having now particularly 
Exam'd s'd Rice upon ye several articles, it appears to ye Com'tee reason- 
able he be allowed the above acc't amounting to sixteen pounds last 
Emission. 

Per order, O. B. Partridge. 



APPENDIX B. page 12. 

Province of Massachusetts Bay. 
To His Excellency Win. Shirley, Esq,, Capt. Gen'll and Gov'r in and over 
said province, &c. 

The petition of Moses Rice, of Rutland, County of Worcester, most 
humbly shows : That in July, 1746, one Ben}. Shaw of Middleboro," was 
Impressed and sent to Fort Pelham, from Col. Warren's Regiment — That in 
December following, one of your petitioner's sons (upon being assured that 
in July following lie should be dismissed,) took said shaw's place; — That 
tho' the first year has expired, and more than two mo. of a second year, yet 
your petitioner cant't get his son released, without your Excellency, of your 
great goodness, will please to interpose with your authority. Your petitioner 
therefore, most humbly prays your Excellency will Compassionate ye circum- 
stances of your petitioner's son, whose name is Aaron Rice, and order him 
to be released from ye service, and if it may be consistent with your Excel- 



11 

fancy's wisdom and pleasure, to direct Col. Warren to Impress mother man, 
to relieve your petitioner's son, or in BDCfa Other way and manner grant relief. 
as to your Excellency, in your great wisdom, shall seem meet. And as in 

duty bound will ever pray. 

M'i-i - i; n e. 
Indorsed. — "Moses Rice's petition to the Governor, 171- " 



APPENDIX C. page La 

To lus Excellency William Shirley, Ksi|r., Captain General! and Govern- 
our in Chief ill and over his Majesty's Province of the .Massachusetts Hay, 

in New England, &c, To the Honourable his .Majesty'- Council, and the 
Hon'ble House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, April 5, 
171!'. 

The Petition of Otbniel Taylor, Humbly Sheweth: 

That your petitioner, by Order of his Officer, pursui d the Indian Enemy 

on the 25 of Auir'st, 17 lii, with such vehemence that be killed an Horse, 
which Cost him Forty pounds, Old Tenor. 

Wherefore your Petitioner prays your Excellency and Honors to take his 
Case into Consideration, and allow him the money his Horse Cost him, and 
as in Duty Bound Shall ever Pray, 8 

Oth.mf.i. Taylor. 



APPENDIX I), page 1.5. 

I insert here such further notices of Mr. Taylor's family as I have been 
able to obtain. 

II.- children born in Deerfield were 

Samuel, b. Sept. 21, 1711, m. Esther White, of Leominster. Intentions 
posted Nov. 28, 17ti!». 

Mary, b. June 23, 17 in. 

Lemuel, b. Feb. 11,1748, m. Abigail White of Leominster. Intentions 
posted I >' c. -. 1772. 

These two sons lived and died in that part of Oharlomont. south of the 
Deerfield, which is now Huckland. 

The children horn m Charlemont wen' 

Bros, b. Feb. •'{. 1751. 

inhnul. b. Jan'y 10, 1753; Tertiut, b. July 25, [754; Martha, Dec 21, 
1756? William, b. Jan'y --'7. 1758; Ludia, b. March 16, 1760; Ru/ia,b. An. 
.;. 1763; Luanda, b. Nov. 26, 1765; Txrzak, b. Jan'y 2, 1769; Dolly, b. 
Dec. 12, 1772,— Vin all thirteen, every one id" whom lived to old age, the 
youngest dying at 66, and the oldest at 92. Their e .- 77 

years, and their aggregate 'i r ' s 1,000 years!" 

Mr. Taylor, as will appear in the narrative, was one of the most intelli- 
gent, enterprising and public spirited men of the town. He ki jit a public 
Bouse for many yean, and was also a trader. The account book oiCapt. 

Taylor Still exist-, ami tome names have a frightful array of charges against 
them for " Rhuin," "Flip," -Tod.lv," "Sider," &C. 'in I7t.\! there is a 

6 



42 

charge of tavern expenses to Capt. Samuel Robinson and family, on their 
way from Hardwick, to settle in Bennington, Vermont, (Vide Rev. Mr. Fos- 
ter's Hist, of C. in Holland's Hist, of West. Mass.) Mr. Taylor died Dec. 
27, 1778. 



APPENDIX E. page 13. 

Eleazer Hawks, the father, was the son of Dea. Eleazer and Judith Hawks, 
and was born at Deerfield, Dec. 26, 1693. He was an older brother of Col. 
John Hawks, (born Dec. 5, 1707,) a brave and distinguished officer, who, as 
we have seen, commanded at Fort Massachusetts, when it was besieged and 
taken in J74G. His wife's name was Abigail. Their children were, — 

I. Gershom, born Feb. 23, 171(i, married Thankful Corse, of Deerfield, 
May 9, 1744. He was stationed for some time at Fort Massachusetts, and 
was wounded in a skirmish with the Indians near the fort, July, 1746. Fur- 
ther notices of him are found in the narrative. He died at Charlemont, 
Dec. 28, 1709. His wife died Dec. G, 1800. Mr. Hawks was for many 
years one of the most active and influential inhabitants of the infant settle- 
ment. Their children were, — Gershom, baptized at Deerfield, May 10, 1744 ; 
Jonathan, b. at Charlemont. March 9, 1755, d. Ap. 25, 1831 ; Elihu, b. Sept. 
3. 1756, d. Dec. 26, 1813 ; Elihu, bap. Oct. 23, 1757 ; Israel, Rufus, Ephraim 
and Reuben. 

II. Eleazer, born Nov. 13. 1717, and killed at the " Bars Fight," Aug. 25, 
1746 

III. Joshua, b. Jan'y 25, 1722, and married March, 1744, to Abigail Hast- 
ings, of Deerfield. Their children born previous to their removal here, were 
Abigail, b. Jan'y 31, 1745 ; Eleazer, b. Feb. 29, 1747. He lived many years, 
and died at Bennington, Vt. Joshua, mentioned in the narrative. There is 
a tradition in the family that he was born at Fort Pelham. Jared, born at 
Charlemont, March 17, 1752 — the second child born there — bap. at Deerfield, 
Oct. 8; d. Dec. 14, 1828. Asa, bap. May 9, 1757; Ichabod, posthumus, b. 
Sept. 13, 1761 ; d. 1837. Joshua, the father, died in the beginning of 1761. j 

IV. Seih, b. Oct. 5, 1729; married Elizabeth Belding, June 24, 1761. 
Children, — Samuel, and a daughter; by 2d wife, William and Esther. Mr. 
Hawks, after a few years' residence at Charlemont, returned to Deerfield. 
His son Samuel is said to have been born in the "fort;" he lived in Zoar, 
on the farm south of the Deerfield, afterwards owned by his son, Dexter 
Hawks. 

Besides the above named sons of Eleazer and Abigail Hawks, there were 
also six daughters. 



APPENDIX F. page 16. 

Mr. Wilder (Hist, of Leominster, p. 218, note) speaks of Col. White as a 
descendant of Peregrine White. Vide also his Dedication Address at Leom- 
inster, Nov. 7, 1851, p. 8. 

The following statement, made by Col. White to his son, the late Dea. 
James White, of Heath, Oct. 28, 1784, and recorded by him at the time, 
points to another origin. 

" Josiah White came from the west part of England, and settled in Lan- 
caster. He brought over with him two sons, Josiah and Thomas. Thomas 



43 

settled li Wenham, and Joeiafa at Lancaster, on his father's estate, and kit 
son Josiah Lived "ii the aame estate; and bis son Jonathan settled at Leom- 
inster. - ' k \ e. 

Owing to the destruction of the lown and parish records of Lancaster, by 
tlic Indians, in 1707, there are bnl Bcanty notices Left of Mr. Wh 
family. No account whatever remains of Josiah, Benior, Josiah (2d), b. in 
England, died Nov. II, i?l I. His wife's name was Mary Ric . m. Nov, 28, 
1678. They had a son Jonathan, who was killed by the Indians, July 1C, 
1707; also Josiah (•'{<!). (1>. Sept. hi. 1682, d. .May 6, 1772 : am! a daughter, 
Thankful, b. March 27, 1689. Josiah married, June 26, 1706, Abigail 
Whetcomb, (b. March 13, 1687, d. Sept. 24, 1771.) They had fifteen chil- 
dren, thirtei a of whom lived beyond infancy, and most of them to a great 
age; four of them being over 90 years, four over 80, and three over 70 
years. Jonathan (Col.) was the second child and oldest son. lie was doubt- 
less named for his mule. abo\ e mentioned. As stated m the narrative, he 
married Esther Wilder. Their three eldest children, a son and two daugh- 
ters, died in infancy. The remaining children were, 

I. Jonathan, horn Mar. I I, 17 Id, grad. at II. Coll. 17(^5, m. 1768, Rebecca 
Rogers, lie removed to Vermont before the Revolution. 

II. David, b. Aug. 26, 1742, m. Mis. Eunice Butler, of Leominster, re- 
moved to Charlemont, and was drowned in the Deerfield, L768. Their only 
daughter was the wife of the late Luke White, of Heath. 

III. James, (l)ea.) l>. Nov. 30, 1741, m. Ruth Ballard, of Lancaster, re- 
moved to Charlemont, (the part afterwards Heath j d. May 1. L824, Wife d. 
June 23, 1823. Their children were Jonathan, Ruth, Esther, Rebecca, 
Polly, Clarissa, Nabby, Sally, James, Gardner. 

IV. Jhaph, (Col.j 1). Aim. U, 17 17. d. Sept. 18, I >J> : re ved to Char- 
lemont, m. Lucretia Bingham, of Charlemont, who d. Nov. 11, 1811, aged 
65; m. 2d wife, Martha, who d. Dec. '.'I. 1836, aged 88. Children by first 
wife, David, Joseph, Asaph, Jonathan. James, Lucretia. 

V. Esther, b. Ap. i», 1750, m. Samuel Taylor. 

VI. Abigail, b. Nov. HI, 17.V2, m. Lemuel Taylor. 

Col. Jonathan White, held the commission of Major, and afterwards of 
Lieutenanl Colonel, in Ku!_o_ r les'- Regiment of "new levies," which marched 
against Crown Point, under Sir William Johnson, in 1755, and was present 
at the Rattle of Lake George, September 8, when Baron de Dieskau was 
defeated and taken prisoner. In old age he lived with his sons James ami 
Asaph, and died December I. 1788. Esther, his wife, died November 23, in 
the same year, aged 77 years. 



APPENDIX c page 22, 

Oct 17. 1754. 

To His Excellency William Shirley. Ksm. Gov. &C, To The Honorable 
His Majesty's council, and the House of Representatives in General Court 
assembled : 

The petition of a Number of the Inhabitants of i New s ttlement in the 
Wesn rn frontiers, called Chearley-Mount, Hnmbly Sheweth: 

Wlereas your petitioners in the Late Distress by tin' Indian Enemy, did, 
(with the advice of Col. Israel Williams, of Hatfield,] Move two of our 
nouses nearly together, and pallisaded from one house to the other on one 

side, and made a parade with hoards which we propose to line on the other 
9tde, the charge M which amounts to >ix pounds, Eighteen Shillings, Lawful 



44 

money, which sum your petitioners humbly request may be granted them, 
and also that your petitioners may be allowed a further sum of six pounds, 
Lawful money, to enable them to build a Mount and watch-box, and picket 
said Houses ; And your petitioners humbly request they may be allowed a 
Suitable number of Soldiers to defend said Garrison, and to scout to the 
other forts. And your petitioners Shall, as in duty bound, ever pray, &c. 

Gershom Hawks. 
Joshua Hawks. 
Seth Hawks. 

To his Excellency William Shirley, Esq., Cap. Gen. &c, The Hon'ble 
his Majesties Council, &c, and Hon'ble House of Representatives in Gen- 
eral Court assembled. 

Petition of Othniel Taylor of a Place called Chearleymont humbly 
sheweth : 

That Whereas your petitioner lives in an exposed Frontier Place, (and by 
the advice of Col. Israel Williams, of Hatfield,) has been at considerable 
charge in erecting a garrison round his and his brother's house, for the pro- 
tection of their Families and receiving and Entertaining Soldiers that may 
be sent for the defence of the Western Frontiers, as also for the conveniency, 
relief, and refreshment of scouts and guards which will be obliged to travel 
to Fort Massachusetts, with stores from the Inland Towns for s'd Fortress. 
An account of which said Charge your Petitioner has been at, is sent with 
this Petition, and would Humbly move that your Excellency and Honours 
would take it into your wise consideration, and make your Petitioner Allow- 
ance for the same, as in Your great wisdom Your Excellency and Honours 
shall Judge Meet. 

And as in duty bound Your Petitioner shall ever pray. 

Oth. Taylor. 

The account of the cost and charge of building mount and fortifying the 
houses of Othniel Taylor and Jona. Taylor, of a place called Charlemont, in 
the County of Hampshire, so far as to make them in some measure defensi- 
ble, &c. 

To 52 Day's Work geting timber, Boaring and Setting up 

the pickets and Gate a 11 £5. 4. 0. 0. 

To 3 day's work of a Team, a 31 . . , . . . 0. 9. 0. 0. 
To 38 day's work geting timber tor a Watch-box and mount, 

and foiting from hou&e to House and Seting up the same. 

a 21 3. 16. 0. 0. 

To 500 feet of Boards for flours and covering for the Mount 

and Watch-Box, a £1. 6. 8 

To Hanging for gates, ...... 

To a team 2 Days, ....... 

£10. 4.4.0. 

A true account Errours Excepted. 

Charlemont, Oct. 18, 1754. 

Oth. Taylor. 

Hampshire, ss. Oct. ye lBth, 1754. 
Then Othniel Taylor appeared and made oath that the above acc't is a 
just and true account of the Labor and Materials for Building and Erecting 
a fort at Charlemont in the County afor'sd, Round the Houses of Othniel 
Taylor aforesaid, and Jonathan Taylor. 

Cor'm Elijah Williams, Jus. Peas. 



13. 


1. 


0. 


6. 


0. 


0. 


6. 







I.I 



APPENDIX II. page 25. 

As the sons of Capt. Rice performed importanl services to th irly his- 
tory i'l' tlir town, :i notice of them appropriately finds si place bere. 

I. SAW i i. was ln.ru at Sudbury, An:'. H 1 , 1720. -lulv 20, 17 11, lie mar- 
ried Dorothy Martin, of Rutland, where he thru resided. They had three 
children before bis final removal to Charlemont, viz. 

Motes, b. at Rutland, April 5, 1742, m. Ruth Pierce, of C, Aug. 6, I7t>7: 
resided at C. on the smith aide of the river, opposite the village, and died 
Sept l<>, 1784. 

Jsn.b. 1717; taken captive at C. 17.")."): m. Lucy Smith, <>f W. Creek, 
\. Y. : and 2d wife, Jemima Grei n. 1798 : died March 23, 1833. 

Martin, b. Jan. I. 17 1'.': bap. at Marlborough, March 22; m. Lucy I: 
<>t Hard wick, 1778; m. 2d wife, Sirah Ford, of Cummington. He died 
.Inly 17, 1841, iet. 92. 

After their removal to C. they had 

Samuel, b. April. 17.").'!, and the third child horn of English parents in the 
town; in. Dorothy Houghton— about 1778— resided and died at <". Dec. Iti, 

JMemas, b. April .">, 1 ?.">.*-' : m. Asenatb Adams: lived and died at < '. May 
9, 1828. 

Mr. Rice bad also two daughters. Rachel, h. Oct. 7, 17<i - J ; m. Thomas 

Totman. and was living at Lorraine. \\ Y. in 18 ."><!. Lucy, d. Oct. 15, 17'.'."). 
Mr. Rice lived in the house, described in the narrative, and owned the 
farm on which it stood : which lias descended to his grandson, Roswell Rice. 
He was a man of tine natural abilities: but in consequence of severe sick- 
ness while a young man, possessed less activity than some of his younger 
brothers. In 1764, June 8, he presented a petition to the General Court, 
Betting foitb that he had discovered "a much hitter place for a road np 
i I -nek mountain," than the old Indian road up Cold River, then traveled : 
and also a ••.-mall tract of land mar said mountain on Deerfield river, con- 
taining about "J' 1 " acres :*' and he asks for a !_ r rant of the land, on condition 
of making a road np "said Hoosuck mountain as good as the land for the 
road will allow of." The petition was granted, but 1 cannot learn that he 
the road. This is the first record which I find of an attempt to 
build the mad across the mountain, when it was afterwards laid out and 

made by the late Col. Asaph White, and is now famous as the line of the 

Tunnel Route. The lam! spoken of is, I presume, the same since known ns 
Kiner's tints, now occupied bj tic- descendants of Mr. Rice. He died Sept. 
-.'((. 17'.'::. at. 7:5 years. 

II. Aakmn, h. Jan. :{|. 17\!.">, removed to < '. with Ins father; m. P 
dom French, of Deerfield, Nov. .">, 1754, l>. April •.'"J. 17.'50: both joined the 
church at I). I7.">»i. He lived upon the homestead and upon the w< 

pait of the Rice Grant He "as one of the most intelligent and u- 
citizens of the town; was the builder of the first mills in the p 
one of tic deacons first eli >'t' d by the church at its organization : for many 
years was constantly intrusted with town business; be Berved a year in 
Port Pelham, as we have seen; lie was also a corporal in Capt. Burk's 
Company, in ('el. Williams's regiment, in 1758 : and in 1780 he represented 
the town in the Convention which formed the State Constitution. He died 
Oct '.'. 1808 ; In- wife followed him, Sept. .">. 1809, and lies by Ins side. 

The following is a copy of the inscription upon their grave-stone: 
"Sacred to the memory of Dea. Aaron Rice, and Freedom, his wife: 
who, having unstained the hardships of nn infant frontier settlement in time 



46 

of war ; having reared a family of eleven children, six of whom lie interred 
in this ground ; and lived together in happy wedlock fifty-four years, departed 
this life, the first, Dec. 2, 1808, aged 84 years ; the other, Sept. 15, 1809, 
aged 79 years." 

" And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the command- 
ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." 

Their children were, Sarah, b. Aug. 16, 175G ; John, b. Feb. 2, 1758, d. 
May 18, 1829; Sarah, b. Nov. 14, 1759; Anna, b. July 10, 1761 ; Eunice, 
b. July 24, 1763 ; Aaron, b. March 23, 1765, d. at Brecksville, O. 1857 ; 
Joseph, b. Dec. 8, 1767, d. in Ohio, 1802 ; Luke, (Capt.) b. Nov. 27, 1769, d. 
Sept. 6, 1845 ; Silas, b. Oct. 16, 1771 ; Freedom, . 

III. Svlvanus, (Capt.) b. January 6, 1729 ; m. Esther Nims, of Deerfield, 
June 5, 1760, and joined the church at D. Nov. 22, 1761. He lived on that 
portion of the Rice Grant which includes the present village, and in the 
house afterwards occupied by Elder Nathaniel Rice, a part of which still 
exists. His services in the Revolution are spoken of in the narrative. He 
died at Charlemont, March, 1819, in his 91st year ; and his widow, Sept. 28, 
1824. Their children were, — Luther, b. June 10, 1761, d. at West Point, 
Oct. 1, 1782; Calvin, b. May 26, 1763, d. Feb. 1842 ; Abigail, b. March 28, 
1765, d. Oct. 19, 1837; Huldah, b. July 19, 1767, d. Oct. 12,1849; Sylvanus, 
b. Dec. 25, 1769, died in 111. May 29, 1847 ; quartus, b. Dec. 2, 1773, d. at 
Brecksville, O. April, 1833 ; Alfred, b. Nov 12. 1775 ; Mathew, b. July 26, 
1778, d. at Montreal, Sept. 1804. 

C 

L^, 

May 8, 1849 ; Anna, b. Oct. 24, 1770, m. Thomas Nichohf, d. 1846 ; David, 
b. Oct. 9, 1772 ; Paul, b. Oct. 27, 1774 ; Dinah, b. Sept. 8, 1776 ; Ezra, b. 
Sept. 13, 1771. Artemas settled on the eastern portion of the Rice Grant, 
and lived in the house afterwards owned by the late Lieut. Josiah Upton. 
He died 1801, ast. 67. 

The daughters of Capt. Rice were, — Abigail, b. Feb. 20, 1723, m. James 
Heaton, at Rutland, April 11, 1743. Two sons, Dr. Moses, and Samuel, 
resided in C. ; Moses, on the west part of the farm afterwards owned by Dr. 
S. Bates. They removed to Onion River, Vt. 

Dinah, b. Jan. 21, 1727, m. Jos. Stevens, of Rutland. She was admitted 
to the church at Deerfield, Dec. 25, 1757; m. 2d husband, Paul Rice, May 
16, 1764 ; d. at C. Sept. 6, 1818. The 4to Bible (Edinburgh ed.) of " Aunt 
Dinah," was left as a precious legacy to the mother of the writer. 

Tamar, b. June 15, 1732; m. John Wells, of Shelburne ; joined the 
church at D. Dec. 25, 1757. 

Sarah King, the widow of Capt. Rice, lived with her son, Dea. Aaron 
Rice, and is believed to have died in the year 1788, set. 88 years. 

In compiling this note, I have been greatly aided by the History of the 
Rice Family, just issued from the press, compiled by Andrew H. Ward, Esq., 
and to whom, as a descendant of Moses Rice, I desire to tender a tribute of 
gratitude for his long-continued and successful labors in preserving from 
oblivion the names of so many of the descendants of Edmund Rice. 




APPENDIX I. page 25. 

Province qf tht Massachtudta Boy. 

To his Excellency William Shirley, Esq., Capt. Gen'M and Governoorin 
Chief, the Hon'ble Council and House of Rep'lives, in Genera] Court 
Assembled, at Boston, Jan'ry, 1756. 

Samuel Rice, of a place called Charlemont, a frontier in the County of 
Hampshire, humbly shows: 

That in the month of June last, your Petitioner's Father, Capt M 
Rice, was killed, and a son of your Petitioner, about nine years old, Capti- 
vated at said pin e. 

That your Petitioner's s'd Father built a fort, for a cover for himself and 
famyly and those of his four sons, which tort was built near a hill "Inch has 
since been looked on a very unsuitable place, as the said Hill overlooked 
said fort, which was the cause, as your petitioner thinks, that none of the 
Soldiers in the pay of the Province, at Said place ye summer past, being 
twenty-four, were placed at said ffort. 

That your Petitioner's bouse stands aboul Eight perch from the Sort and 
well situated, and your petitioner, with his brethren, would erect a fort 
around the same, provided they might have soldiers placed there, which they 
apprehend would be of Publick benefit. And as your Petitioner and Breth- 
ren have valuable improvements, he prays your Excellency and Hon'rs con- 
sideration of the premises, and to grant such releife as may prevent the ruin 
of your Petitioner and his Brethren, who otherwise must leave their settle- 
ment. 

Your Petitioner further begs your Excellency and Hon's Compassionate 
consideration of ye unhappy case of his son, now a captive among the 
Indians, and that, if any measures are taken for the Redemption of Cap- 
tives, that of his son, whose name is Asa, may equally share in ye great 
goodness and charity of the Government. And as in duty bound Will ever 
pray. & C. 

Your petitioner came to town but yesterday, and could not put a petition 
sooner, and humbly prays it may be sustained. 

S vm'i.i. Rii \ . 
To his EX. Wm. Shirley, \ c &C. 

The Petition of Aaron Rice, of Charleyinount, Humbly Sheweth : 
Whereas your petitioner was obliged soon after the Enemy did begin to 

distres the people in the western frontiers, to hire 1 men for a guard three 
of them for a fortnight, and one of them live days, ben _ tatl d to do 

it. is we apprehended, to save our lives, till the province supplied us with 
Soldiers, we then being hut few in number in Charlemont, and very much 
scattered, and greatly exposed to an enemy, and not aide to guard ourselves 
while we »ere geting our families together and fortifying, &c, Four peti- 
tioner prays that the wages and Billeting said men may be paid him out of the 
province treasury, and your petitioner will, as in duty bound, ever prav, A 

AaKhn Km k. 



APPENDIX J. page 35. 

Province of MatmekutetU Hay- 
To the Hon'ble his Majesty's Council and House of Rep'tives, in Gen'l 
Court assembled, Sitting at Boston, April! I-. 17.">7. 



-2 " 

48 

The Petition of Samuel Rice, for himself and his three brethren, inhab- 
itants at Charlemont, so called, in the County of Hampshire, humbly 
Shews : 

That on their petition presented to this Hon'e Court the last year, they 
were pleased to allow them eight of the men placed at Charlemont, provided 
your petitioners should remove a fort placed around their late father's house, 
and errect one round your petitioner's, a much more suitable place, which 
was done at. considerable cost. 

That there is scarce any improvement, (as is well known to many mem- 
bers of this Court,) but what is made by your pet'rs. That they annually 
raise a considerable amount of grain and other provisions, having now near 
twenty acres of Winter Corn on the ground, And mow more grass, and keep 
more cattle than the whole place, and are owners of the only corn mill in 
that part of the County. 

Your petitioner also begs leave to say, that Charlemont was granted on 
certain conditions of Settlement, which had they been complied with, the 
place would have been a fine flourishing town ; but it has so happened that 
what has been done as to Settlement, has been done by your petitioners and 
their late dec'd father, which, as it has been attended wiui uncommon Cost 
and danger, they humbly apprehend it has entitled them to the favor and 
Justice of the Hon'ble Court. 

May it please your Hon's that, in consequence of the incouragement given 
them the last year, they removed the garrison aforesaid, and erected a good, 
new, defensible one, and as they must, if not in some measure supported* 
leave their .valuable possessions and improvements, (which will certainly stop 
the settlement of the place on a peace,) they humbly pray your Hon's wise 
and compassionate consideration of the premises, and that they may such 
assistance afforded them, as may be consistent with your Hon's wisdom, and 
as in duty bound, shall ever pray. 

Sam'l Rick. 



